House on the River
by TinaMR
Summary: Find out what happens in this crossover fic when a Greek god plays a part in the Gelflings'and Skeksis' affairs. Kira's life will never be the same.
1. Chapter 1: The Best Intentions

**PROLOGUE:**

The setting is modern-day America. To be more specific, it's a twenty-two story high rise called the Random House, which overlooks a body of water known as the Grand River. It might have existed since the beginning of time, no one really knows for sure. Many characters from different stories and folklore have been brought here, among them the characters from The Dark Crystal. It is a wonderful, magical place, and all invited to join it feel honored.

The residents each have their own rooms, along with a large communal room on each floor, where the guests can converse, mingle, watch television, throw parties, or do whatever else they please. With such a diverse group of denizens in this extraordinary place, many are the best of friends, but many more are the worst of enemies. Still, as it _is_ considered an honor and privilege to reside here, those who are not on the best of terms have learned to tolerate each other. To do physical harm to another is strictly forbidden.

This place alone has many stories of its own to tell, not just the ones of the characters which it contains. The following is a tale of infinite hate along with true love, as well as regret and forgiveness. It is also only one of many that have been grown and nurtured in this strange and diverse place.

**Chapter 1. The Best Intentions**

The rain poured down outside. Kira sat alone in her room, contemplating her surroundings. It had been two years since she had first arrived at this place called the Random House. Although most of it was strange and alien to her, it was also a place of peace. It was a place eons far away from the pain and sadness she had known on Thra. She looked more human now, as everybody did who came from far off lands, even the gentle urRu and the cruel Skeksis, who also resided on the same floor. Once genderless, individuals from each race had identified themselves with male or female, as well as taking on a more human form. Still, she did not question this fact since it just seemed a natural thing in this world, which she was now a part of. In fact, she tried not to think of it much at all, since she figured the less she had to do with either race, particularly the cruel Skeksis, the better off she would be. Yes, there was the unspoken, unwritten rule that they could cause her no harm, but she did not entirely trust that. As deceptive and conniving a race they were, she was fairly certain they would come up with something to make her life miserable if she got too close.

Then there was Jen, the only other one like her in this large and seemingly alien world. They had found each other, back on their home planet known as Thra, the last of a race that had been all but exterminated. Although both now were technically human, it seemed still they were the only two alike. Still, there was a part missing there and she could not figure out why. When she looked at him, there was something that told her what she should be feeling. Yet it was not there. It was as if she knew she had a role to play, but didn't fit the part. Just as her thoughts were tangling around this quandary once again, her phone rang. It was her friend Eros, who resided on one of the higher levels of the building.

"Hey Kira! I was wondering what were you were doing tonight. The club is open late, and they have fifty cent drafts until midnight."

"You know Eros, that actually sounds fun," she said eagerly. "Meet me down here at 8:00 and we'll get ready."

Being the Greek god of love himself, Eros always wanted to know every minute detail of his friends' love lives if he didn't already. Kira had confided in him before, but tonight she was feeling particular confused about where she and Jen were heading, and it was certainly nice to have a person there to talk to who was an expert in such matters.

"I don't know Eros, we've been through so much together," Kira stated ever so sadly. "Being the last two of our kind, one would assume we would automatically fall for one another. It just seems that hasn't happened. He tells me he loves me, and that he wants to have a family, but myself, I'm not so sure. And that kills me." She looked so melancholy as she made this statement.

"That's certainly understandable," replied her friend. "But things often do not come wrapped up in a nice neat bouquet, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Have you tried talking to Jen about this? Perhaps that may help."

"I understand what you are trying to tell me, and part of me knows that you're right, but I really was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I was just hoping that my emotions would just bounce back up on their own."

"Well, you need to stop thinking about it, Kira. Go out and have fun tonight. Let your hair down. Things may seem better in the morning."

"You're right, Eros. Perhaps I am just way over-thinking this whole thing. The more I think about it, the more difficult it becomes. Perhaps if I just let go, it will work itself out."

"Now you're going somewhere," he agreed. "Remember, love is not something that can be forced. Yes, it does take work and commitment, but you will always run into problems if you try to force the issue, or be with someone just because that's the 'proper' thing to do. I've seen my fair share of heartache over that one."

"We'll just see. Tonight for once I'm not going to worry about it. Let's go and have a good time."

The two friends arrived at the nightclub known as Top of the Rock at approximately ten thirty that evening. Connected directly to the high rise in which they resided, it was only open to residents of the Random House, which that little fact alone made it the most exclusive nightclub in the world. On any given Saturday night, the place would be packed wall to wall people, some being Greek gods including Zeus himself, others coming from planets in far off galaxies such as Luke Skywalker of Tatooine and his sister Leia. And this night was the same as any other – a packed dance floor with people and races of all walks of life and backgrounds.

Kira went up to the bar to get a drink. Just as the bar tender was taking her order, three Skeksis walked past her and sneered. She shot an icy look back at them. As it stood now, for the very first time in her life, those vile things, vile even though now they looked as human as she did, were the least of her worries, and she was not about to let them spoil her evening.

"Good god, I can't believe they let those filthy things in here," the one known as SkekEkt chirped to her companions, after walking past Kira. Her tall frame was dressed from head to toe in layers of silks, polyester, embroideries and scarves. Long silver and gold earrings hung from her ears, which were pierced in multiple places, including her nose. A dozen different necklaces, bejeweled with ornaments of rubies, emeralds and crystals, hung around her neck. Although much younger looking and easier on the eyes than back on Thra, as were all the Skeksis including the wise and gentle urRu, in place of her heart was an ice cold rock.

SkekSil, their former chamberlain, nodded and whined in agreement.

"They ought to be drained and hung out to dry. Wretched things they are," replied SkekNa. "The only use I see for them is do wash our laundry in the morning. If not, be gone with them!"

The former slave master gave one harsh look back at the female gelfling before they rounded the corner.

In spite of the possible Skeksis encounters while here at the club, this was the one part of the week Kira always looked forward to. The music was pumping, and it seemed to take her soul along with it. Above all, it reminded her of the few happy days in between the torment and loss of her life on Thra. The days she had spent being raised by the podlings, where if they were not being attacked by the garthim, it was a day of song and dance. It brought back memories of the joy and merriment that seemed to fill the world whenever her clan decided it was time to throw a bash.

She also got to see many of her friends from other floors as well as her own, including Princess Allura of planet Arus, talk about her week, and join in the general party atmosphere, leaving all the cares of the week behind.

The following day, she awoke with a slight headache, from the two drinks she had had the night before. Not too bad, but definitely worth an aspirin. Her 5"1' 95 lb body was pretty vulnerable to the potions of alcohol. Today she was supposed to hang out with Jen, who had rang her cell phone while she was at the club. She had considered canceling, blaming it on her headache, but then thought better of it. No, she was going to try to make this work, despite her feelings. Eros also rang her that morning, to make sure she had gotten home okay. She told him she had, mentioning her plans with Jen, what they were doing, and where he was meeting her. Eros thought to himself, "This is my chance to do something good."

As good-natured and kind hearted as he was, Eros truly wanted to help his friend. Being the god of love, he actually did have the power to help her. Yes, someone as vibrant and as full of life as Kira should not be alone and unhappy. He had chewed on the idea through out last night, and as of this morning, he decided he would do what was within his capabilities. He just could not let on the feat he was about to perform, or it would not be as special to her if she knew some other force was behind it.

SkekNa awoke late morning in a fowl mood. Well, nothing that unusual, considering that was his general temperate anyhow, but damn he had had a lot to drink the night before. That stupid little fuck SkekSil would not shut up the entire night, and he assumed that must be part of the reason for waking with this general uneasiness. He got up, poured himself a lukewarm cup of coffee, with four shots of espresso and turned on the television. It was the typical crap about the Iraq war. "Why don't they just exterminate those people in the Middle East and get it over with?" he thought bitterly to himself. After all, the easiest way to get rid of a problem was to just get rid of it, wasn't it? Na, he couldn't be bothered with this nonsense right now. He finished his coffee, and jumped in the shower. This was one modern convenience that he wished they had thought of at the Crystal Castle.

After he was finished, he dressed himself in several layers of dark clothing, including a dark pair of jeans, a black T shirt, a black sweater, a black cardigan, and a dark red snake skin jacket over that. Old habits do die hard, especially when it came to layering on his garments. He then applied a touch of black eyeliner. A single crystal pendulum hung around his neck. He ran a comb through his shiny black hair, which was shaved to the skin, except for the top of his head which had grown in thick about 4 inches long, hanging partially in front of his eyes. Yes, he definitely liked his younger, more human appearance since arriving here. The Skeksis as a whole were a vain bunch, even more so in this world, and SkekNa was no different.

Remembering he had left his notebook with his list of chores back in the communal room the previous day's morning, he put on his studded leather boots thrown gingerly in his closet. Things were a little different here now that he no longer had slaves at his command to do his bidding, and resented that fact. Never the less, there was work to be done around his little apartment, and that list would help him make it complete. He left his personal dwellings and headed out.

Jen had made plans with Kira the previous night to meet him in the communal room where they would drive together out to dinner. He knew she had been distant lately, but last night on the phone she seemed down right perky, and eager to see him. He dressed himself, taking extra care with his hair and grooming. He wanted to look good for her. He walked in, and the room was empty. He was thinking he was alone, but that wasn't quite true.

Eros was a clever one, and remained well hidden above the ceiling tile, crouched on the wooden deck, with only a tiny hole exposing out to the room below. The space was small, and he was hunkered in almost a fetal position, with his tiny bow and arrow drawn and ready. These were arrows made from the fabric pure love itself, and whoever's skin those arrows pierced would fall madly and fiercely head over heels with the first person they would look upon next. The unwitting victim would be completely unaware of what was happening, all they would feel is a tiny prick, like a mosquito bite, and there would be no trace of any thing else. He or she would only know an insatiable desire to be solely with the one they had cast their eyes upon.

Just as Jen was wondering where Kira was, or how late she was going to be, she entered to communal room. "Hey Jen, sorry I'm late. As I told you last night, Eros invited me out dancing, and I awoke this morning with a bit of a headache. Probably all the dancing I did last night. I saw Allura at the club, and she talked me into a few drinks and you know the rest…"

"Yes Kira, I know how much you love dancing," Jen laughed. It was good to see her smiling this morning.

"How is urSol?" She asked, trying to make conversion. "Have he shown you any more of his songs that he has written?"

"A few here and there. They're pretty good. Listen, Kira I was wondering if you wanted to go to that little restaurant on the bay called Tambourines. I hear the crab legs are excellent…"

"That sounds nice, Jen…"

As this conversion was taking place, Eros aimed his bow and arrow straight right upon Kira. The two gelflings were the only ones in the room, making the scenario absolutely flawless. There was no way this could go wrong. Just a couple of more seconds passed, as he perfected his angle, directly positioning his arrow's aim against Kira's upper body. Eros then let go of the string. It was a direct hit.

Kira smacked her neck abruptly. Wow, must have been some sort of bug, she thought to herself. This world could be full of all sorts of crazy things. With her eyes pointed towards the floor, in her heart she felt a slight flutter, almost a feeling of pleasured euphoria. Just as she was pondering this strange and alien feeling, the door swung open. SkekNa entered the room, looking for his notebook. The female gelfling turned her head, and looked straight at him.

Eros's heart sank. How could he have failed his friend like this? It was quite possible this was the worst thing that could happen. Not only did she not look at Jen when the moment came, instead it was her worst enemy. There was no going back, no reversals. The only thing else left to decide was what to do next. Should he leave Kira alone in her misery, or make the misery mutual? Whatever the case, he had to think quickly. He may not be able to get SkekNa and Kira in the same room again, considering their cirumstances.

Thinking on his feet, Eros decided whatever the decision, it couldn't get any worse than this. If this were the route he was about to take, he had to act now, and at least Kira would not be alone in her agony. He drew his bow and arrow once more. He positioned his aim on SkekNa, still looking for his notebook. He was conveniently facing towards Kira, who was trying to make sense of what just happened.

"So you may not be alone in your torment," the god of love whispered silently to himself.

He let go of the cord on his bow. It was a direct hit. SkekNa stumbled forward, wondering what had bit him. Experiencing the same bewildered feeling of elation, he raised his eyes to meet Kira's dazed stare.

Eros hung his head low, his eyes close to tears, which were full of shame and regret. It was not even a small comfort he gotten the second part right.


	2. Chapter 2: Sub Conscious Thoughts

**Chapter 2. Sub Conscious Thoughts**

Kira fidgeted through most of her meal with Jen. She wasn't sure what it was, but she couldn't seem to concentrate on the simplest thought. "Are you okay, Kira? You seem a little flustered this morning," Jen asked, being concerned. Yes, she had been distant as of late, but today she seemed completely in another dimension. This worried Jen more than a little.

"I'm perfectly fine, it must have been the coffee I had this morning. Like I said, I think I might be a little hung over from last night."

This was indeed odd, she thought to herself as she played with her food. This morning when she woke up, she felt so hopeful for the future. Now, she was not so sure, and she did not want to tell herself why. There was someone, or something she could not get out of her head. She simply could not bring herself to see what it was, so she chose not to think at all.

"Must have been some party. You said you had two drinks?"

"Yeah," replied Kira, absent-mindedly.

Jen could not take this anymore. Yes, things between them were not like they once were, but something now was definitely wrong. He could not remain silent on the matter any longer.

"Kira, what's wrong? I know something is amiss, and I do not know what it is unless you tell me. You have got me very worried. If I did something, I need to know what it is. You've been distant for months, but today you seem like you are not there at all…"

With her confused and flustered present state of mind, this only served to make her angry.

"I just don't know," she said coldly. "Why do we have to talk about this now? Why can't we just have a simple meal without you getting all in my face about what I should be saying or not saying?"

"I know something's bothering you, Kira. And I can't help you fix it, until you tell me what it is." Jen was not going to let this drop.

"Leave me alone. There is nothing to discuss." She forced herself to hold back tears that wanted to well up in her eyes. Jen's heart was breaking, but he did not want to push her any further. He knew there would be no constructive outcome if he did.

The two gelflings finished their meal in silence.

After a twenty second daze he could not describe, nor quite even remember, SkekNa located his notebook in the communal room in a desk drawer by the television. Attempting to remember how it got there in the first place, a face came into his mind, a face that had just left the room not 5 minutes before hand. He pushed that thought away, wondering on earth, why he had been struck by her presence so strongly. It was difficult enough having to live on the same floor as gelflings, disgusting creatures that they were, and now her face seemed to be branded in his mind. Even though the prophecy in which a gelfling would end Skeksis power no longer held any meaning here in this place, his irrational hate for the two gelflings had not diminished. Pushing the thought of her away, and blaming it on the headache from earlier that morning, he dove into his routine for the day, blocking out what he could of her image. Routine was important to the former slave master, now that he no longer had slaves, or even garthim at his command. It seemed to him the only way to get any of his daily chores accomplished. He had slowly grown accustom to taking care of simple tasks such as doing the dishes, or taking out the garbage, but it had not been easy.

That same night, he dreamed. Although rare that any skeksis would remember his or her dreams, since emphasis on such an activity is not in their nature, he awoke in the middle of the night in a sweat and a shiver. It was a dream so real he could have reached out and touched it. _She _was in it. That girl. That gelfling. She was smiling as they were walking in the park. It was rare to see any one smiling at him, let alone someone like _her. _She was about to take his hand, and that was when he awoke. Almost laughing to himself at the ridiculousness of it all, he got up to get some water. He drank it, and then went back to bed. After lying in bed awake for an hour and a half, he dodged in and out of sleep the rest of the night.

Three days had past. Over the couple years that she had been here, Kira thought she had adjusted quite nicely to life here at the Random House. Of course, she had been flustered these past few days, some very odd dreams here and there, but that comes and goes, doesn't it? After all, she had reason to be stressed. There was almost an insurmountable tension between her and Jen, and she did not know how to overcome it. What was wrong with her to cause her to feel the way she did? No, things do not always turn out the way you hope, she told herself. They never do. God, how she wished things were different. Things always seem to take a natural course of action over time, but her lack of feelings for Jen was not what she was expecting. And there was something else. It was something uncomfortable, something that almost physically hurt to think about. Yet, as time went on, she was having an increasingly difficult time pulling her mind away from it. Worse, she was slowly beginning to realize what it was. No, it wasn't an _'it'_, it was _'someone.' _God, she must be losing it, she briefly thought to herself, pulling herself away from the image once again. Something things were just too painful to see.

Rather than sit in her room all day dwelling on thoughts she no longer could control, she decided to go out. She called up her friend Io, who resided on the 21st floor.

"Sure Kira, let's go get some coffee, and maybe go see a movie. What's playing?"

"I'm not sure, what's that one with Jack Black? I'm in the mood for something funny. I really need to get out of this wretched mood I've been in."

"Awesome, meet me up here, I haven't quite finished getting ready."

Kira left her room shortly after, and walked through the corridor to the elevator. As she approached it, she noticed about 15 yards down the hallway walking toward her were two Skeksis. Though she barely knew their names, nor really wanted to, she began to recognize one of them as the one she had run into three days earlier in the communal room. Twirling her long, flaxon blonde hair nervously, and wishing the elevator would hurry up a little faster, her eyes met with SkekNa's. Her heart began to race, and she felt her skin getting hot. Though they were no longer an immediate threat to her, she wanted to run, though she could not break his gaze.

"Come on, damn it!" She thought to herself, cursing at the ever so slow elevator. She was absolutely terrified. But terrified of what? Here, they could no longer harm her. Yes, their presence here was irritating at best, and sometimes the memories they brought back could be downright frightening, but this was not it. No, this was something else, something she still would not bring herself consciously to look at. After an excruciating moment that lasted no longer than 20 seconds, yet seemed like an eternity, the elevator arrived. She got on, as the two Skeksis walked past towards the opposite hall, not saying a word to her.

She got in the elevator, closed the door, and began to pound the wall in frustration. She pulled herself together as best she could. What was it? The image was becoming clearer now, no matter how much she fought it and in this very moment, tears began to well up in her eyes. It was almost as if these thoughts were not her own. After laying eyes upon SkekNa once again, her sub conscience could no longer hide what she had so desperately tried to keep from herself. She had finally realized the one she had been thinking of, and it was that very instance that Kira had decided she was clinically insane.

As the two Skeksis walked past her and into the opposite hallways, SkekNa's thoughts were almost mirror to Kira's. Though not frightened of her the way she was of him, he was equally confused by these new profound emotions. What was it with her, anyways? Not having suffered the trauma that he himself and his fellow skeksis had caused themselves, he did not have the ability to block out thoughts the way she could. He had been at the mercy of his dreams and these wandering images for three nights now. He knew now that he had seen her again this could only get worse. Yes, gelflings were disgusting, awful creatures who were not to be trusted, but there was something with this particular one that had him so captivated. It was as if incredible, beautiful music was heard as he laid eyes upon her. He could almost smell her, though she wore no perfume, even from 15 yards away. Yes, this was indeed odd, and something in the air was not right. He barely heard SkekZok, who was walking next to him, mutter something about gelflings and draining one's living essence after they had passed by the elevator. SkekNa, for probably the first time ever, was silent on the matter.


	3. Chapter 3: Confrontation

**Chapter 3 – Confrontation**

The days had turned into weeks. With each passing day it grew clearer to Kira that she and Jen were headed nowhere. As they barely spoke at all nowadays, Kira decided she needed to do the right thing by Jen and let him go. It was the only right thing to do, considering that she would not want to be with someone like herself in her confused and flustered state of mind, bordering on the edge of insanity. Though it was not passionate, she still did care for Jen and wanted only the best for him, even if it wasn't with her. She knew she would not be able to live up to the standards that he deserved.

She called him by phone, wanting to meet in person. As painful, and as hard as it would be go through with, that was the only way. She owed him at least that. The two met at a local coffee shop, down the street from the high rise in which they resided.

"Well Kira, it's not like I didn't see this coming," Jen said, fighting back tears. "You haven't been yourself as of late, and if this is what you want, I will give it to you. But know this, I know there is something wrong with you, and it's not just your lack of feelings for me. Something has happened to you. I really can't guess what it could be, and I know you do not want to tell me what it is. If you're not ready, that's okay. But when the time comes, and you need a friend, I am here."

This made Kira feel worse than she possibly could have already. Compared to her, Jen was a saint. He would have given her the world. Why in the world did she not feel the way she wanted to for him? Better yet, why… No, she couldn't admit that part to herself out loud in her head. She mustn't think about it. SkekNa. Yes. That was his name. "Damn the gods. Put him out of your head. This is mad!" Kira thought to herself.

"Kira?"

"I'm sorry Jen. I am so very sorry. I wish it were different, I really do." This time, she was not able to hold back her tears.

The gelfling had not gotten a good night's sleep in more than three weeks. All around her, the rose colored world in which she tried to build around herself seemed to be crumbling. Some days it was all she could do to not sit home and cry her eyes out. The one she was supposed to love was gone, and in her heart it was replaced by something else. Something unnatural. This was not how it was supposed to happen! What in the world would cause her to feel the way she did? It was down right impossible. He and his clan, because of their irrational fear and hatred, had all but eradicated her entire race! She was only one of two that were left. So why was this particular Skeksis invading her thoughts the way he did? It was all she could do to block him of her head. Some days it worked, other days the harder she fought it, the more her feelings would come and punch her in the stomach. It was getting more and more difficult to deny, especially on the days when she would catch glimpses of him walking by, whether it be in the hallway, in the communal room, or at the club. Was it that she was spotting him more often, or had she just never noticed him before? Whatever the case was, it was truly insanity. They never spoke one word to each other, but there were darting glances here and there, which would be enough to cause her to lose 8 hours of sleep. Sleep was something came less frequent to them both. Both were terrified of dreams of each other. The truth was, Kira was absolutely miserable, and there was not a thing she could do about it.

Weeks had turned into months since both had unknowingly been pricked by Eros's arrow. Eros, in his shame, had made himself scarce to Kira since his little folly. He happened to be walking outside the Random House's lower level, when he spotted her sitting in the local coffee shop, nursing a cappuccino, and hung his head in self-disgust. As he saw her sitting alone staring at the table in front of her, it was clear to him she was in agony, and he was the one responsible. He still didn't know if shooting SkekNa with his bow and arrow after he realized his mistake had been the right thing to do, but her misery would have been the same all in all if he hadn't. At least this way the Skeksis would be less like to do anything malicious towards her in the unlikely event she were to come forward with her feelings. He walked on by, not saying a word. Kira never looked up to notice him.

Once again, it was Saturday night, and after moping around her apartment all week trying to diagnose what was wrong with her, Kira decided to go out to the club. Yes, that one particular Skeksis would probably be there, the one who was causing her so much stress, as he was there pretty much every other week, but she had to get out. If she had stayed alone by herself, she truly would lose her mind. Besides, dancing was the one thing she looked forward to, the one thing that seemed to be able to put her mind at ease, and help her forget everything that was causing her misery. If she were to catch him glancing her way, which she often did, she would put it out of her mind, she told herself. Yes, tonight would be different. Not only would she not notice him at all, she would pretend he did not ever exist. In truth, however, this would be next impossible.

She got herself dressed and ready, and arrived about 10pm. Since it was early, the dance floor was still pretty roomy, with plenty of room to stretch out. Sinead O'Conner's Mandinka over the sound system, one of her favorite singers as well as one of her favorite songs, and she was able to let her mind go, and just feel the music. She danced to the next couple of songs after that as well. It felt so good to be able to just meditate on the music. Then the slow sets came on. Couples from all over the club flocked to the dance floor, arm and arm with each other. Kira did not have a partner, so she retired herself to a chair behind the dance floor. Across the club, she saw the entry door open and once again, she was snapped back to reality.

SkekNa entered the club with their former garthim master SkekUng. A girl named Vera, who lived on their same floor, who Kira actually knew rather well, accompanied them. In another life, 65 million years ago here on earth, Vera was a velociraptor from the Triassic era of the dinosaurs. Now, she looked just as human as the rest of them, but still with a craving for raw meat, adorned with long, meticulously manicured nails, and as strong and agile as an Olympic athlete.

"Hey Na Na, why don't you go make a request for me? I want to hear some Nine Inch Nails. Get it in early so we might have a better chance of hearing it," asked Vera to SkekNa, using his nickname that he most often went by.

SkekNa, who was not accustomed to doing things for other people unless it involved something for him, even the most simple of tasks such as this, snapped back at her sharply. "Why in the hell don't you do it yourself? Why am I your bitch all of the sudden?"

Combined with the added stress of his unwanted feelings towards that female gelfling, and Vera's incessant nagging, SkekNa was in no mood to be somebody else's servant tonight. Others served him - never the other way around.

"Easy there, killer. I'm only asking because I think the deejay is afraid of me!" Vera said this with a chuckle in her voice.

SkekUng laughed out loud. "Don't worry about it, Vera. Good ole Na Na here has been cranky as of late. We're not sure, but we think he has his period," the former garthim master said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

SkekNa shot a dirty glance towards Ung. He really was in no mood for jokes. "Fine," he shot back. "I'll go request your damn song. Just don't expect this to be a regular thing. I have other shit to do tonight, and it doesn't involve you," he shot back, unexpectedly catching Kira's eyes across the club.

The former slave master had been pondering his little predicament for quite some time now. How long it had been going on, he just wasn't sure, nor could he remember. All he knew was that these dreams and thoughts about Kira were occurring more and more frequently, and he was losing more and more sleep. If he stayed awake, he thought of her. If he slept, he dreamed of her. While the thought eluded Kira that there may be some other force at play here, and only blamed it on her own insanity, the idea actually had occurred to SkekNa. He had no clue where it might be coming from, or where to begin to look, but what he did know was that Skeksis having romantic thoughts about gelflings was not something that _ever _occurred naturally. Maybe it was some sort of magic that the gelfling had fabricated her self. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps the urRu were behind it, though for the life of him, he could not figure out why they would do such a thing. Was she having these thoughts as well? He didn't know. All in all, there was one place to begin, and he was dreading it with all his being.

Kira absent-mindedly watched him from 10 yards away as he approached the deejay booth to request the song Vera so badly wanted to hear. Not realizing how intensely she was staring, SkekNa turned, and gazed right back at her. Locking eyes for about five seonds, a sick feeling washed over Kira when she realized that she had been caught. Her heart jumped, and she looked away quickly. SkekNa shook his head to himself. Yes, something was definitely off kilter.

Nursing her drink ever so slowly, Kira tried to focus on the music, and pray silently to herself that he had not noticed the way she was looking at him. God, she was terrified. Nobody could ever know what was going through her head, let alone him. She did not even want to imagine the consequences, let alone even entertain the thought.

Just as she was about to get up and go back onto the dance floor, her friend Io approached her asking how she was doing, and why she hadn't seen her lately. Trying to maintain her composure and not think about problems at hand, she responded, "I'm okay. Just a lot going on lately. How about you?" She sounded so distant.

"Awesome. Ganymede and Dionysus are over there by the pool table doing shots. Want to join us?"

"You know Io, I think I'm going to pass on that. I have a headache as it is, and it's making it hard for me to think clearly." At this point, Kira knew any _hard_ alcohol could potentially make her problem much worse than it already was.

"Suit yourself, sweets! You're missing out!" Io grinned, flipping her long orangey blonde hair. Her friend's fun and fearless demeanor always had a way of helping her forget problems at hand.

About an hour passed, and sipping on her bottle of Smirnoff, Kira found herself finally starting to relax a little bit. She was by herself, leaning up against the railing surrounding one side of the dance floor. The place was absolutely packed wall to wall, and everybody seemed involved within themselves, whether they were drinking, dancing, or something in between. Yes, life here couldn't be that bad, she thought. At least here she was amongst friends, living in one of the most exclusive places in the world, and even though her love life was in shambles, she still had so much to be thankful for. Contemplating going back out to the dance floor, she was about to move from her spot, when she saw out of the corner of her eye she was being approached by somebody from her left. She turned to see who it was, and when it registered, all the color drained from her face.

"Hello. Your name is Kira, correct?" It was really all the words SkekNa could force out of his mouth.

Stunned to the point of speechlessness, Kira's first instinct was to run, but her legs would not move. Her mouth agape, she just simply stared.

"I don't know how to say this, but something is not right," SkekNa said, raising his voice so he could be heard over the loud music. His tone was steady, but there was a long pause.

A minute passed, the two of them just stood next to each other, staring out towards the dance floor, not knowing what to say next. Trying to stop herself from shaking, Kira finally was able to speak. "What in the hell do you want?" It was the only words she could find that would remotely make any sense.

"I just know something is not right. There is something wrong in the air, and I don't know what it is. A bad chill, perhaps."

Kira could not believe what she was hearing. No, she must not let her guard down, in spite of how much she wanted to get to the bottom of this. Blinking twice, she tried her best to maintain a confident stance. "What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand." As coldly as the words came out, she was all too afraid she did understand.

"I think there's bad magic around us. I do not know if you yourself are the cause of this, and I hope for your sake you are not. I just want to find out what it is, and where it's coming from."

Kira wondered in amazement. Was it plausible he going through the same exact torment she was? Impossible. Still, his last statement sounded remotely like a threat, and she was not about to take kindly to that.

"I do not respond to threats. SkekNa. That is your name, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. Most who know me call me Na Na," he replied, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. He was well aware he would not get any answers out of her if he could not get her guard down. "I wasn't threatening you. I just want to get to the bottom of this. You have nothing to fear from me for now, unless I find out otherwise."

"SkekNa." Kira said his name as coldly as she could muster. "Even if hypothetically I did know what you were talking about. Why would you think that someone such as me would have the answers?"

"I honestly don't know. But I need to start somewhere, and you are the most obvious source."

Just as he said this, they both noticed people around them were beginning to look toward them, more than likely finding it odd that a Skeksis and a gelfling would find anything to converse over voluntarily.

"Whatever the case may be, we shouldn't discuss it here. Too many eyes are watching," SkekNa stated matter-of-factly.

Now Kira was really in a dilemma. She had two choices. She could walk away, never speak to him, never look at him again, and continue on her life the best she could with misery still looming over her, or she could get to the bottom of this herself. Whatever the situation was, she knew he was right. There was something wrong in the air. Something such as this does not occur naturally. Who would do this, or be the cause of this? Was this some sort of sick joke? Sure, here in the Random House, given all the diverse residents here, including ones who had greater powers than she did, anything was possible. Perhaps maybe he himself, or all of them were behind this, in some sort of sick Skeksis experiment. Yes, she had heard stories of the experiments they performed on living creatures including her own kind during their reign in the Crystal Castle. This thought frightened her in more ways than one. Yet, looking into his eyes, she knew this not to be true. As much as he tried to hide it from her, she saw the desperation she herself was so familiar with. If he was indeed going through the same misery she was, perhaps they could be of assistance to each other. The idea seemed so ridiculous, any Skeksis was never to be trusted, but at this time it was the only lead she had.

"Where would we go?" she heard herself ask.

"Somewhere that's not here. Do you have a car?"

"Yes." She did not like where this conversation was headed, but he was right, people were beginning to take notice, and she did not want to end the discussion.

"I promise gelfling, at this time I mean you no harm. I will let you drive, so you are at all times in control. I just want answers, as I'm sure you do as well. Tell me where you are parked, and I will meet you there five minutes after you leave. Otherwise, we need to end this discussion here." Unable to look at her directly, he continued to point his gaze towards the dance floor.

"You really think I would get in a car with you."

"If you know of which I speak, yes."

As much as Kira hated the idea of being a car alone with him, she too wanted answers, and knew her torment would not stop until she had them.

"I am parked in deck 2 row A. I drive a white Honda Civic." Kira was hoping this was a decision she would not come to regret.


	4. Chapter 4: Road to Nowhere

**Chapter 4 – Road to Nowhere**

Leaving the club only moments after their conversation, Kira walked alone through the parking garage, got in her car and waited. Her heart was pounding. Half of her wanted to change her mind, leave the car, go back to her room, beat her head into a pillow, and never come out again to see daylight. The other half needed answers, and would not rest until she got them, no matter what the process or the consequences. One thing she did know was that her torment would not end until this was solved. There was also an even smaller part that had another reason for waiting, one so tiny she could not see it, but that one had no rhyme or reason. One thing was indeed certain, and that was she had to remain calm if she was going to get anywhere. She could not allow him to see the fear in her eyes, or her desperation. It took all her willpower to keep from breaking down into a quivering mess as he approached her vehicle.

"Hurry up and get in," she said quickly and coldly, as he opened the car door from the passenger side, trying not to look his way.

Silently, they left the parking garage as quickly and as stealthily as possible, without being seen.

With neither of them really knowing what to say to each other, the silence was deafening. They had been on the road about five minutes before she found the courage to speak again. "Where are we going?" Her voice was cold and steady, staring straight ahead at the road in front of her, as she headed north down Alpine Avenue.

"Just keep driving. It doesn't matter the direction. As long as we are on the road, no one will take notice of us."

She nodded. This was not exactly comforting. Although she had an unquenched suppressed desire for him, she still feared him above all else. She continued to debate in her head whether or not this whole thing had been a good idea.

"What is this about, anyways?" She asked, in a tone as steady as she could manage. "I mean, what was so important to talk to me about that we had to leave the club driving towards who knows where?"

"I have already explained that to you. And I can tell with a fair degree of certainty that you would not have let me get in the car with you had you truly not known what I was talking about."

Kira felt her face turn hot. She glanced his way briefly with daggers in her eyes in stunned disbelief. How in the seven hells could he possibly know what she had been going through? The very thought terrified her. Yes, when things couldn't possibly get worse than they already were, fate came around and kicked her in the head. There was a thirty-second pause, while she tried to retain her composure as best as she could. The tips of her fingers began to shake, as she tried to keep the car steady on the road.

After a moment passed, she found the ability to finally speak. "So you think this is all some sort of spell. Some sort of bad magic, coming from who knows where." It was the only words she could think of.

"So then you do admit then that I am not making this up. Now we are getting somewhere."

Kira wanted to reach out across the cockpit of the car and smack him. Smack him for what he and his clan had done to her and her family back on Thra, and smack him for what he was doing to her now. He had tricked her essentially into admitting the problem she had now been fighting for months in two simple sentences. All she could do, however, was keep her eyes on the road. Her heart was pounding in fast steady thumps, so loudly she could hear it.

SkekNa meanwhile, saw her distress. "I know this isn't easy for you, gelfling, and believe me, I do have better things to do with my time too. But in order to solve this, I need to know everything that you have seen and witnessed."

Telling SkekNa of her torment between Jen and himself was the very last thing Kira _ever_ wanted to do in this lifetime. "You first." Her voice was soft and emotionless.

There was a brief pause. SkekNa bit his lip and fidgeted with the rings on his fingers. "Alright, fine. If that's what it takes, I will tell you. It's just, well…" He stumbled on his words. "I can't sleep at night."

"Is that all? You had me drive you all the way out here to tell me you can't sleep at night?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"It's the reason why I can't sleep at night. Like I said, something is off. I can't see or touch it, but something is definitely wrong."

"You've already said that twice. What is it exactly that you think is wrong?" Kira was not quite sure if she really wanted to hear his answer to the question.

"Do I really have to explain this to you, gelfling?"

"Yes, unless you can think of another way. You're the one who dragged me out here all this ways. Now I want to know why."

SkekNa continued. "I really can't put it into words. But you are part of it. Yes, you are definitely part of it. I know not if you yourself are behind this, but I have had thoughts recently that never would have occurred to me before. _Ever. _Do you understand what I mean?" He looked directly at her as he said this.

Kira, against her own willpower, looked back at him briefly. "I can't believe this. No, I mean, I really can't believe this. This is impossible."

"So you do understand."

Kira only nodded. She could find no words at this moment.

SkekNa shook his head in disbelief as well. Yes, this was impossible, yet it was happening, all the same.

"Are you the one behind it?" He asked her. "Are you the one who concocted this little spell? I do not take kindly to this, you know. There will be consequences for the one who I find involved in this little prank." He could feel his elbows beginning to shake.

It was at this moment Kira finally found her voice. "Do you honestly think I would be the cause of this? This is nuts, SkekNa. Total insanity. My life has been a living hell, and you honestly think that I would cause this on purpose? You're right, something is definitely very wrong, there's a bad force coming from somewhere, but I can sure as hell tell you with 100 percent certainty I am not the one behind it. And as I told you before, I do not respond to threats."

"I'm not threatening you. Just know, this isn't fun for me either. These dreams I've had, they keep me awake at night. I'm lucky if I get two hours of sleep. It's _you_ who keeps me awake."

Kira tried to control her trembling fingers. This was the very last thing she wanted to hear. Yet there it was, laid out before her on the table. "Please do not tell me these things. It really doesn't help matters." She wanted to cry or scream. Maybe both.

"Like I said before, I just want to get to the bottom of the matter, find out the cause, and put an end to it. I can surmise you want the same thing, am I right?"

"This is mad. This is insane. Who in the hell would do this to us?" She knew though, he was absolutely right. No way was this a coincidence. At least now, she had something to work with. Someone, or something had done this to both of them. There was no doubt of that. Who or what, and why? What in the world would be someone's motive to cause her to feel the way she did? Was it for their own sick entertainment, perhaps? Knowing finally she was not the one who was losing her mind was a small comfort, if only temporary. Knowing that SkekNa had been feeling it too was not.

"Yes, you're right, this is mad, and I want to get to the bottom of it," SkekNa agreed.

"So where do you suggest we begin?" she asked.

"I need to know everything that has been happening to you. Tell me gelfling - I mean, Kira. When did it start?"

She looked straight ahead towards the road. There was no way this could be true. Yet it was, and the proof was being laid out, right in front of her. "Alright, if you must know, I will tell. I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do," she replied, resigning herself to her fate. "I have dreams too. Thoughts. Things that have occurred to me that I never would have conceived otherwise. That's all you need to know on that matter and I'm not going into any detail. As far as when it began, I really can't say. A couple of months, maybe."

"Same here. I can't really pinpoint it though. I've wracked my brain trying to figure this out, and I still came up with nothing. As much as I hated the thought, that's when I decided coming to you had to be my next option." He looked away from her as he said this.

"I see. Please understand though, I have no more answers than you, nor do I have the first idea where to look. Trust me on this, I wish I did."

The longer they discussed this, the further away from the city Kira drove. She could feel her stomach growling, since she had not eaten since three o'clock. It was now one a.m., and they were coming upon a small town that bordered on the city where they lived.

"Are you hungry?" SkekNa asked if her, as if reading her thoughts.

"Actually yes. Why do you ask?"

"I see a little diner up the road there on the left. I think they might be open. I was just wondering if you wanted to stop. I can feel my stomach growling too."

Having a meal with him seemed a preposterous idea to Kira at the moment, but she really did not want to drive any further out of the city than they already were. Besides, she truly was hungry, and figured she may be able to think more clearly on a full stomach.

"Don't you think people in there may recognize us?" she asked cautiously. Running into people they actually knew, or worse, having a reporter spot them together could potentially make their problems much worse than they already were. Their faces were easily recognizable to the public.

"Nobody working this late at a place like this is going to give a shit who we are, or where we came from. And I'm not worried about running into any one we know. I doubt any resident of the Random House has even been here before or even knows the name of this place."

"Let's go then before I change my mind. I'm starved. As it stands now, there's nothing now that could make this evening any more bizarre."

"I can't agree more," replied SkekNa. It was the truth for both of them.

SkekNa did not bother to hold the door for her as they entered the diner. Such customs were foreign to him, and even if he were familiar, his self-absorbed mind probably would not have given it a second thought. Still, as she walked in front of him, he looked her up and down from head to toe, taking in her essence. No, he told himself. He must not be distracted by her enchantment. There was a task at hand, and he could not lose his focus on getting the answers he needed. That, after all, was indeed the reason he had approached her in the first place, wasn't it?

To Kira's relief, nobody seemed to take notice of them. They waited to be seated, and then were given a table in the corner by the window. She looked over her menu, thinking to herself that even though she felt physically hungry, she was not sure that she would be able to eat and keep it down. Her stomach was entangled in knots. She finally decided on a dinner salad and with some Italian dressing and an iced tea. Na Na decided on chicken liver and some fried cheese sticks.

"Do you know what you're having?" He asked her, trying to ease the tension.

"Yes, I think so," Kira replied. She felt her stomach ease up slightly, but not enough to where she felt she could relax.

The waitress approached them to take their order. They told her what they wanted, and resumed their conversation.

"You probably are already of aware of this Kira, but I must reiterate no one is to know about this little problem. It would be good for neither of us."

"I really do not think you have to remind me of that, SkekNa. I mean, I wasn't thinking of writing an article about it in our weekly newspaper." She said this cynically, with a hint of a smile, referring to her part time job as a journalist for the Random House's weekly paper, the Random Times. Room, board and food were always free, but many of the residents often retained full or part time jobs to get a little extra cash on the side.

"I'm sure you're not. I just want you to know that my clan is not very fond you, and they would be fond of this little problem even less. This is not something I want getting out. After all, we feared and hated your kind so much we tried to cleanse our world of your race, and we succeeded at that, all except for two."

Kira's almost relaxed demeanor tensed up, and her expression turned to ice, as she glared at him with daggers in her eyes. "I'm well aware of that too, thank you. Like I said, I really do not need to be reminded." She did nothing to hide the pained anger from her face.

"I do not mean to upset you, and I'm sure you're well aware of the situation. I'm bringing that up because I want you to know what's at stake here. My clan _cannot _find out about this. I honestly do not know what they would do - to me _or_ you."

Kira blinked purposely, clasped her hands in front of her face and let out a big sigh through her nose. Yes, she was more than well aware of the circumstances.

"Look gelfling, I told you I would do you no harm, and I meant it. I'm just saying we must be careful."

Kira nodded her head, attempting to hide the sorrow in her eyes for the loved ones she had lost to the Skeksis' fear and hatred. Spell or no spell, she honestly did not know how it was possible that she felt the way she did.

Just as she was about to respond, the waitress arrived with their food. As hungry as she was, Kira picked at her food, eating in slow, deliberate bites. Though table manners were not something Na Na was accustomed to, he found himself entirely nervous eating around her. Why this was, he didn't know, but then again, there was much going on as of late that could not be explained.

"How is your food? Was it cooked alright?" Na Na asked her, once again trying to ease the tension.

"It's a salad. You don't cook salads."

"I see," He responded. He did not know what else to say.

Kira took another bite, swallowed carefully, looked at him, and then began to sum up their situation. "So I guess it's obvious we have a little problem, and we don't have to say it, we both already know what it is. Where do we go from here? I mean, it's not as if we can go asking around who knows about it, or who or what may have caused it."

"I don't really know. Tonight my goal was to find out what you knew. I have suspected for a while you were as aware of it as I was, but I really wasn't sure if that part was just in my own head. I know now that it's not." He looked at her intently as he said this.

Kira felt her face turn red. She hated how she felt about him. She hated it with all her being. The fact that he now knew about it filled her with self-disgust.

Na Na continued, "Just keep your eyes open. Report to me anything strange you might come across that might be related. I will do the same for you."

"This is all so strange. Never in my wildest imagination will I ever understand. None of this makes sense. I still cannot fathom who would be behind this, or why, but I will do as you say. I just want this all to end. I want my life back to normal, whatever that is."

"Good. At least we've gotten that far. Whenever you're finished, we can pay our bill. It's getting late, and we should get back before morning hits. You can drop me off by the post office box half a block down from the entry. Nobody should be around there this time of night."

"I think I'm done," replied Kira, looking at her half eaten salad. "You're right, we should get going."

They each paid their bills separately, and got in the car. It was about an hour's drive back. There was very little conversation on the way home. Na Na would glance her way every now and then, watching her drive out of the corner of his eye, wondering why he had hated her and her kind so much before, when all along he realized he had nothing to fear. They were finally approaching the high rise in which they resided. Kira dropped him off a half a block away, just like he had told her. Before getting out of the car, he said one last thing. "Again Kira, if you find out anything, or see something unusual, please let me know. I promise I will do the same for you."

"Alright. I will. Good night."

He looked back at her a moment longer, staring her straight in the eyes, and then exited the car and went back to his room.

In spite of both of them being mentally exhausted, neither of them was able to get a winksleep the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter 5: Insomnia

**Chapter 5: Insomnia**

It seems that the problem is very deep  
'Cause every time I try to sleep  
I have nightmares  
Thinking about getting together with you  
No, no, I wouldn't say so  
I would not call it a curse  
But what worries me then  
Is when I wake up if it might be worse

-Violent Femmes

After coming to the understanding that sleep would not find her that night, Kira got out of bed about eight a.m., and turned on her television. A pounding stereo was coming from the room next door, and she tried to block it out of her mind. "Who in the hell would be listening to that at this hour of the morning?" she thought to herself. Yes, Marty Rex, who lived in the apartment one door over, loved to blast her house music at all hours of the day. Marty, like Vera who also lived on their same floor, had lived in the Triassic period of Earth's history 65 million years ago. In her former life she was a ferocious, blood-thirsty tyrannosaurus rex, but now she looked just as human as everybody else here, and with just a tad more manners. Tall for a female, standing at five foot eleven, she, like Vera, also had a craving for raw meat, and had a quick temper to go with that.

Another part of her was thankful though, for the distraction. It was the little things that she had to give thanks for nowadays, in spite of everything else that was going on around her. Forcing herself to focus on the bass coming through the wall was all she could do. She could not get his face out of her mind, and now she was about to begin the coming day on no sleep at all. Her eyes were heavy, but she was afraid to close them for when she did, she did not like what she saw. No, that wasn't it. She liked it too much. Disgusted with herself as she was, she liked the way he looked at her, trying to hide those seemingly unnatural feelings as much as she did. She could see in those dark green eyes of his the confusion and lust that was so much hers.

After debating with herself back and forth for about an hour whether it was even a good idea to go outside of her room today, she had had enough of Marty's little mid morning one-person party she was throwing next door for herself. Kira finally decided to get up and ask her to turn it down. About a minute had passed before Marty finally answered the door.

"Hey Kira! Good to see you this morning. Come on in!"

"Alright, thanks," she replied, stepping through the door. "Listen Marty, I was wondering… could you turn down your stereo a little, please? I'm still trying to sleep this morning."

"Good god Kira, you look terrible!" she exclaimed after a glimpse of Kira's dark circles that had formed under her eyes. The gelfling honestly looked to her like death warmed over.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't get much sleep last night. I've had a bout of sleeplessness these past couple of nights and I'm still trying to get some rest this morning before I start my day. It must be the change in weather." It was the best she could come up, and to her relief Marty did not seem to question it.

"Well, maybe you should try eating something. You look really thin, especially lately. Care for some rare sirloin?"

"No thanks Marty, you know I'm a vegetarian."

"Yeah, I know. I never understood that, but suit yourself," she replied, almost laughing.

Marty turned around, and adjusted the volume on her stereo to something more suitable for Kira's sleep deprived state of mind.

"Is that better?"

"Yes, much better. Thank you so much, Marty!" she replied, sincerely grateful.

"No problem, Kira. Now go get some sleep before you get sick."

"I will. Thanks again!"

She headed out the door, went back into her own room and crawled back into bed. Chuckling to herself, she thought Marty was certainly the friendliest t-rex she had ever come across. Not that she had ever met one prior to her arrival here, but from the movies she had seen and what she had read, they had a reputation for being downright vicious creatures. Then again, things were never like they were supposed to be, especially as of late. After about fifteen minutes of lying in bed staring at the ceiling, she finally was able to sleep, if not for just a couple of hours.

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It was eight a.m., and Na Na laid there in his bed, tossing over once more. Sleep had come to him less frequently over these past couple of months, but not once had he actually gone without sleeping for an entire night. Behind the darkness of his eyelids, he could hear her voice and he could smell her scent. Never in the thousand years of his life had he an appreciation for beauty or fairness, but she was everything that embodied that. Above all, he could not figure out why. All logic told him to fear her and hate her, that she was of the race that would bring about his clan's destruction. Yet, he could no longer bring himself to feel such things. There was something else as well, lying beneath all that jumbled confusion. It was an emotion, an unfamiliar one, much more terrible and sinister, then anything else he had ever felt.

Rather than trying to focus on this strange and uncomfortable feeling, he decided to get out of bed and get dressed. He took one look in the mirror – he looked like absolute hell. Not really all that surprising considering his lack of sleep lately, but it had been a long time since he had seen himself so pale. He quickly brushed his teeth, ruffled some styling gel through his dark hair, and tried to make himself as presentable as best he could. He then went to his tiny kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, again with his usual triple shot of espresso. Na Na finished his brew, grabbed his laptop, and then went out to the communal room to see who was out there. Any social interaction at this time he surmised would be better than sitting here thinking about _her_. Or worse, focusing on that nagging feeling that was seeping like a poison into his brain.

As he entered the communal room, SkekEkt and Vera were sitting in front of the large plasma television, watching Project Runway on Bravo.

"God Vera, look at that shit. Those dresses are so boring, so mundane. Does nobody have any fucking taste on this planet? They look like something you would wear to a sandpit," she complained, absent-mindedly yanking on the many multi-colored jeweled necklaces that hung around her neck. "I mean, at least my designs have a little creativity, as well as class and prestige."

The female Skeksis was referring to her former vocation as a fashion and interior designer for her clan back at the crystal castle. Although that was not currently her official title here anymore, she still designed all her own clothes as well as the extravagant, almost over-the-top jewelry she always wore, as well as anybody else that was willing to pay for her designs. Of course, Ekt did not receive many requests from those outside her race, since by modern American standards her creations could be looked upon as either gaudy or downright tacky most of the time.

"I don't know, Ekt. They look fine to me. Not everybody here dresses like a Skeksis, you know. A lot can be said for subtlety," Vera said, chewing on a piece of raw chicken.

Just as Ekt was trying to think of a snide reply, she caught a glimpse of Na Na out of her peripheral vision.

"In the name of the triple suns, what in the hell happened to you?" she exclaimed, taking one look at his exhausted appearance.

"I was out late," he mumbled at her. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you look like shit, that's why. Have you looked in a mirror?"

"Like I said, I was out late. It happens, Ekt. Get over it." He had to keep his cool. If he let on that anything was amiss, he knew his problem could get much worse, very quickly.

"I don't know Na Na, I think Ekt's right. You do look like ass. What in the hell were you doing last night?" Vera said, laughing almost hysterically.

"Something that didn't involve you and your shit-brained comments," Na Na replied, rolling his eyes at her.

Vera shot back at him, "Well, if you're going to be so secretive, Na Na, we're all going to want to know more. You do realize that, right? Was it something embarrassing? Did that mad scientist Tek mistake you for a podling and attempt to drain you of your living essence?" She asked this in her ever so charming tone, referring to the skeksis scientist SkekTek, and the method in which he turned the pod people back on Thra into mindless slaves.

Ekt laughed out loud at her last remark. Yes, Vera's quick wit and sharp tongue definitely made for good entertainment.

Unable to come up with an equally caustic rebuttal, he shot her one dirty look, and proceeded to sit down on the sofa in front of the television, logging onto his laptop to check his email. Under normal circumstances, Na Na could trade barbs with Vera all day and not blink an eye, but already he was operating on zero sleep, and his mind was full of other distractions – well, one in particular. He began surfing the web, and listening to Vera and Ekt continually critique the program they were watching, trying everything within his will not to think of her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several days had passed, and the weekend was approaching once again. Kira and Na Na managed to not catch sight of each other all week. This of course, did not make things any better for either of them. Now that they had been confronted openly with the situation at hand, it was all they both could think about. In spite of her ever-growing frustration and anguish, she was keeping her eyes open for anything that seemed out of the ordinary, just as he had requested of her. Yet as hard as she scrutinized what was going on in her surroundings, she came up flat.

Never once did it occur to her that her good friend Eros might be behind it. Maybe had she spent more time with him after his little mishap, the thought could have come to her that he might have been involved. However, she had spoken to him maybe twice since the incident took place, and not being all that familiar with the mythologies and folklores of this world, she did not really even fully realize the extent of the powers he possessed. Even if she did, she had no reason to think that he would inflict something as horrific as this upon her. He was her friend, after all.

The last thing she wanted to do however, was sit home in her room, pushing away thoughts of what Na Na's lips would feel like on hers. It was Saturday night, and it was time to get ready to go out to the club. Yes, he would most likely be there, she could no longer kid herself that he wouldn't be, or that things would be different this time. She did decide however, that this problem needed to be tackled head on, and there was no more room for running from it. Every problem had a solution – that's what her adoptive mother always told her, and why would this one be any different? A short lived sense of peace came from this idea, one she had not felt since her friend Eros's little blunder. She jumped in the shower, then adorned herself in that dark blue party dress she had bought from Marshall Fields a couple of weeks earlier. She adjusted her long, flaxen blonde hair up into a stylishly loose bun. After finishing her hair and make up, she grabbed her coat, and headed out to Top of the Rock for a night of music and dance.


	6. Chapter 6: The Dance

**Chapter 6: The Dance**

The line was a bit longer than usual to get in. Tonight, the club was especially busy, booming with patrons of all walks of life and backgrounds. Kira patiently waited in line with her ID card, when she spotted her friend Allura, princess of the planet Arus.

"Hey girl, what's going on?" Allura exclaimed, happy to see her friend.

"Not a whole lot, you know - a little of this, a little of that. You know how it goes. Wow, it sure is chilly out here." Kira replied, straining to sound as upbeat as possible.

"I know. You just don't know what the weather is going to do around here. One minute it's warm sunshine, the next minute you've got six feet of snow. Back on Arus, it was pretty balmy, as least where I was located. Honestly, I never really saw a real snow fall until I came here."

"Wow. Back on Thra, we did get it occasionally where we were, but I know what you mean, it wasn't quite like this."

"By the way, I heard you and Jen broke up. I'm very sorry."

Kira replied, not looking at Allura directly, "Thank you. It's been difficult, and I'm still not sure what happened, but I guess you never do, with these sorts of things."

"Well, I can tell it's been hard on you. You two seemed destined for each other."

"Thanks," Kira said softly. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Na Na and three other Skeksis approaching the back of the line. She physically felt her stomach drop to the soles of her feet, and her face turn a harsh shade of white.

"I'm sorry, I can tell this upsets you, and I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I just wanted you to know I'm here if you need anything." Allura had witnessed Kira's reaction, as much as she tried to hide it, but assumed it was because of her fear of them, and nothing more. The princess herself was no stranger to evil despots consumed by greed.

"Thanks Allura, I really appreciate that, I do. I just try not to think about it lately. It really does me no good to dwell on it, as I've discovered."

As their conversation continued, they approached the doorman, and flashed him their IDs.

"Believe me, I understand fully on that one. Let's go and have a good time. I think you need it! And don't worry about them – you know who I'm talking about. You know they can't hurt you here," Allura said to her friend, motioning nonchalantly towards to group of Skeksis gathered at the back of the line.

"Yeah. Them. Exactly." Kira sounded like her mind was in another world, as she took once brief glance back at Na Na and his fellow clan members before passing through the club entry way.

Eros and his mother Aphrodite arrived rather early, wanting to reserve a good table near the dance floor. Both were Greek deities from another time, hailing from Greece 3000 years ago. Being the goddess of love and beauty, it was said Aphrodite was the loveliest woman in the world, if not in the entire Universe. As strange as it did seem, she did not look a day older than her son, who by human standards looked to be in his late teens, or early twenties.

"So tell me Eros, what has you so glum lately? Still can't seem to get a date?" She asked her son, with a hint of laughter. The idea that the god of love was having trouble finding that special someone seemed like a preposterous idea, yet the truth was, with one exception many years ago involving a young woman by the name of Psyche, that had always been his luck.

"No, that's not it. I'm okay, really. It's just that I don't understand some things anymore. No matter how much I try to help people, including my close friends, something always go wrong. It's like, why bother?"

"Anything specific, my dear?"

"No, not in particular," Eros lied. "I just wish I could be more of a help to people, rather than a hindrance. I mean, creating love is supposed to be my specialty, but love seems in many cases to be more of a burden to some people, rather than a blessing."

The truth was, his good friend Kira and her plight had been on his mind since his little blunder almost three months prior. Talking about it with his mother did, however, make him feel slightly better, even if he was not about to give any specifics.

"I know, sometimes I feel that way too," she replied. "But remember, you have a talent nobody else has, nor can ever acquire. At least take comfort in that."

"Yeah, I know. I just want to do the best I can with what I've got, and it seems I haven't really done that lately."

"Are you sure you aren't referring to something specific? You haven't gotten yourself into any trouble, have you?" Aphrodite asked, becoming slightly more suspicious.

"Oh no, like I said, I'm fine. Just feelings I've been getting, that's all. Nothing more." Eros could not bring himself to tell his mother the exact truth, nor anyone for that matter.

Kira and Allura decided got a table two down from Eros and Aphrodite. Seeing Eros about to go onto the dance floor, she waved at him, and he waved back, trying his best to smile warmly at her. It was all he could manage to hide his guilt. Still, looking back at her, he could see the frustration and loneliness that was pent up inside of her, behind the façade that she had so carefully constructed.

The night went on, and the music was superb, as usual. The deejay knew most of the patrons quite well, and loved to pull antics on them whenever he could get the chance, all in good fun of course. His name was David Bowman, and in his former career he was an astronaut aboard a space shuttle named Discovery on its maiden voyage to the planet Jupiter in the year 2001. While checking out an enigmatic black rectangular object orbiting near one of Jupiter's moons, David became lost in another dimension, possibly a different Universe. Now he found himself here at the Random House, along with other people he knew from his previous life, among the other residents, having as good of time as anybody else.

Tonight, representatives from Outback Steakhouse were there in support of their new restaurant that had opened up just a block down the street. David had been asked to give out free dinners to people randomly, or however he wished to distribute them. This is where, once again, he decided he would have a little bit of fun.

"Alright everybody, I have a little contest I would like to throw out to you all," David announced over the club speaker. "You don't have to participate, but if you wish to, you'll get something tasty in return."

People began to look up to find out what this little prize might be, and what exactly it entailed.

"As many of you can see, Outback Steakhouse is here promoting their new restaurant that will open up in two days. Now many of you here I know have a nemesis. Somebody you hate and despise. Somebody who has done all they can to make your life hell. Maybe you've done all you can to make their life hell. Either or. I want you to grab that person, take them out on to the floor, and slow dance with them to this next song. If you do, the Outback representative will find you, and you'll get a fifty-dollar gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse! What could be better!"

An uncomfortable laughter and then an audible groan came from the crowd. Some individuals could be seen looking every which way, contemplating if they wanted to participate and a get a free sirloin, do it just to say they did it, or completely forgo this nonsense. Vera, Marty, and SkekEkt were sitting at a table on a ledge perched about four feet above the dance floor's level. From this view they could easily see who was participating.

"Oh my god Vera, this has got to be the coolest thing they've come up with yet!" Marty said, laughing almost hysterically to her comrade. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Princess Allura and her archenemy Prince Lotor walk hand in hand out onto the dance floor, along with Aphrodite and Ares, the Greek god of war. There was also Jalashala Dieterbach, a humanized xenomorph from the planet LV-426 and a marine corporal who once fought her kind who went by the name of Dwayne Hicks. Countless other "couples" came out to join them.

Vera, laughing almost as hard as she was, responded, "You should go dance with Dr. Alan Grant. I'm sure he'd like a free steak dinner too," referring to the paleontologist who had been invited to a unique zoo known as Jurassic Park on an island in the tropics called Isla Nubar a few years back.

"Dang it Vera, I don't think he's here tonight. Son of a bitch probably cost me a free meal. I'll have to his ass for that one. Why don't you go find someone? I'm sure there's more than a few here who you've pissed off lately…"

"Na, the last time I was at Outback, I requested my steak rare. When I got it, there was actually a little bit of brown on the sides. I was so angry I would have just eaten the restaurant manager right then and there had I been allowed to."

"Well, drink up then, and enjoy the show. This ought to be interesting!" Not exactly a light-weight when it came to drinking, Marty was already on her fourth beer for the night.

Kira sat at her table looking around nervously. While it wasn't unusual for the deejay of this particular club to come up with something as preposterous as this, it was obvious to her this little game could not have come at a worse time, considering the unusual situation she was in. The idea popped into her head that to be on the safe side, she may want to head to the women's bathroom where she would wait it out for a few minutes. As she was getting up to go do just that, she was once again caught off her guard.

"Hey," Na Na said to her as non-threateningly as he could muster, trying to approach her with caution.

"What do you want?" She asked callously, letting out of her mouth what she had meant to keep in her head. She knew already exactly what he was about to ask of her.

"Well, I wanted to know if you would like to dance." Attemping to sound as confident as possible, his eyes shifted in every direction possible, never finding a comfortable line of sight.

"Why? What is the point of that?" As coldly as _she_ tried to sound, Kira felt her knees beginning to lose their strength.

"Because I have to talk to you. That's all."

"Right now - this very instance? I don't think that's such a good idea." Unable to block the thought from her mind, she could not help but admit to herself how desperate she was to feel his body against hers, even if it was just a simple little dance.

"Now is as good of a time as it's going to get. Nobody will think twice. With this little 'contest', most people are too much involved with themselves to take notice of anyone else around them."

Kira continued to look away, and did not say anything.

"Look, I told you, I just want to talk. That's all," he said, looking directly at her.

She looked in every which direction, and observed that indeed nobody in the club was paying any attention to them at all. In spite of the way she felt about him, or maybe it was because of it, Kira nodded her head, sighing heavily. "Alright, fine," she resigned, purposely not looking straight back at him. "Let's go before I change my mind."

The two made their way out onto the dance floor. Around they could see people giggling, completely wrapped up within them selves and what they were doing, just as he had pointed out to her. They found a spot towards the middle of the floor. Na Na proceeded very carefully to put his arms around her waist, and his touch made her shiver. She tried not to gasp. She was terrified, repulsed, and excited, all at the same time. As she attempted to contain her composure, she prayed he could not hear her heart pound. Although he himself enjoyed dancing to a hard, industrial beat, he had never danced with anybody like this, let alone with someone of her kind.

Over the speakers mounted high above, "Face to Face" by Siouxsie and the Banshees played loud and clear, set to the slow, steady beat of a ballad.

Face to face -- my lovely foe  
Mouth to mouth -- raining heaven's blows  
Hand on heart -- tic tac toe  
Under the stars -- naked as we flow

Cheek to cheek -- the bitter sweet  
Commit your crime in your deadly time  
It's too divine -- I want to bend  
I want this bliss but something says I must resist

Another life -- another time  
We're Siamese twins writhing intertwined  
Face to face -- no telling lies  
The masks they slide to reveal a new disguise  
You never can win -- it's the state I'm in  
This danger thrills and my conflict kills  
They say follow your heart -- follow it through  
But how can you -- when you're split in two?

Na Na could not help but wonder why he felt so compelled to take part in this little game that was going on around him, but it also would not make any sense not to. He had things to discuss with her, and this made just the right opportunity. He had just about convinced himself that this was in fact true, when he felt the touch of her warm body fall in line to his, and her arms wrap around his neck. He had to restrain himself from holding her too tightly, as difficult as that was to do. As hard as he tried, he simply could not push the thoughts out of his mind of just how good she felt in his arms. Finally, just under a minute into the song, while struggling persistently to gather her thoughts, Kira was finally able to speak.

"Alright, we're out here. What was it you wanted to discuss with me?" she inquired to him over the music.

"I just want to know if you have seen or heard anything unusual this week."

"No, no I haven't. I was hoping you had. You said you had something to tell me."

"Well, not exactly. I just wanted to talk to you - find out if you knew anything. That's all."

"So you dragged me out here onto this dance floor only to tell me you don't know anything?"

Replying back to her in a harsher tone that what he would have liked, he simply said, "I just had to find out for myself. It's been a week or so since we last spoke, and I dislike waiting around for the answers to come to me."

"Well, that's the whole thing, SkekNa. I have no answers. I'm not even sure being out here with you like this is a good idea."

"It's Na Na. Nobody calls me SkekNa; it just sounds odd to me."

"Na Na, okay, whatever. I just want my life back, that's all. I thought by participating in this little contest, you would have something specific to tell me. Something. Anything."

"Don't you think I want the same? Do you think I enjoy this? The others would have my head if they knew about our predicament. As it stands now, they just think I'm doing this for a free dinner. No harm, no foul."

The song half way through, she felt his hands grip tighter around her waist, sending her mind into a state of euphoric confusion. She once again let out a heavy sigh, automatically tightening her hold around his neck. Their bodies pressed firmly together, it occurred to Kira his real motivation for their participation, as well as hers.

"Na Na," she whispered to him.

"What?"

"We can't give in to this. You know that, right?"

He almost choked on her last statement. "Are you kidding me? Don't be ridiculous, Gelfling. I know what you are, and you know what I am. That's the end of it."

"Good. Just so we have an understanding." She could feel herself becoming increasingly uneasy, on top of the flustered confusion she already felt.

On the platform surrounding the dance floor, Marty and Vera began to take notice of the two, who had their elbows perched on the railing, which outlined it. "Hey, check it out Marty. Now there's a duo I don't think we'll ever get to see together again," Vera remarked to her friend, pointing towards Na Na and Kira, still embraced in the dance.

Marty, who had already knocked back more than a few beers, laughed uproariously. "Damn, I wish I had a camera for this moment. They look so cute together!"

"Ha, she looks so scared. He's got to be over a foot taller than her." In truth, Vera was right. At six foot four, he stood exactly one foot three inches over her height.

To anybody who was not privy to the truth of what had been going on, the look on Kira's face was the look of fear. She had done well, however, to hide the other emotions that were mixed in with it.

At this moment, with her voice raging with hostility, SkekEkt decided to chime in. "Well damn it, that little shit should be scared. But then, it's not surprising, really. I swear, Na Na will do anything it seems, especially when it comes to a free steak dinner. That man has no fucking principles, at all, and this is just proof!"

Vera and Marty laughed at this simultaneously at this statement. The joke of any Skeksis, including SkekEkt, having moral principles was not lost on either of them.

Seconds before the song was about to conclude, Na Na and Kira were approached jubilantly by the Outback representative, paying no attention to who they were. After all, there were countless other couples on the floor just like them. "Thanks for participating in our festivities tonight, here is a $50 gift certificate for each of you to our new restaurant opening up on Fulton Street. Spend it as you wish."

"Thanks," Kira replied, taking the piece of paper, still a bit dazed from the bewildered emotions that had swept her momentarily from reality. The rep walked away, not looking back.

"Wow, so that's what we get out of all this," Na Na whispered to her, laughing nervously. "It had better be good."

Kira rolled her eyes half smiling, and shook her head in agreement. As painful as it was, she forced herself to wake from the dream that she was in.

Looking up to see her friend Marty grinning widely directly at them, she took two steps back from Na Na. She could see the effects of alcohol plastered all over her face. "Yeah baby, yeah! Do it for STEAK! We love STEAK!" she yelled directly across the dance floor at them. Looking back at her, the gelfling couldn't help but laugh.

"How many beers has she had?" Kira asked him before they parted, still momentarily forgetting whom they both were.

"Enough to probably not remember this in the morning." He smiled thinly in her direction.

"Fine by me." There was a slight pause. The song had ended, and those were previously not engaging in this game had now come back onto the dance floor. "I have to go now," she said to him.

"Yeah, me too."

"Okay."

"Alright then," Na Na said back to her. Both forced away the notion from their minds that they did not want this to end.

Silently, they scanned each other one up and down one last second before parting ways. The night went on, both of them trying to act as normal as possible around each of their friends and peers. Kira and Na Na tried their best to portray that everything was right with the world. Both of them were fully aware, however, that couldn't be further from the truth.


	7. Chapter 7: Truth and White Lies

**Chapter 7: Truth and White Lies**

Days had passed, followed by restless nights that came in a long string that seemed never ending. Kira sat alone in her room, wondering how in the world events had come to pass that had brought her to this point. Becoming a recluse was not in her personality, but if there was one thing that could push her to it, it was the predicament she was in. She could still feel his touch on her skin and his breath on her neck. As much as she tried to fight these ever increasing conflicting emotions, she closed her eyes and meditated upon this memory. It was the memory of their dance together, one that seemed forever ingrained into her mind. Abruptly realizing what the thoughts were that were going through her head, and mentally scolding herself for even entertaining such things, Kira grabbed the pillow that lay on her bed and stuffed her face into it, as the tears fell down her cheeks.

Now that it was obvious to her that she was not alone in her torment, she couldn't help but ponder Na Na's fate in this entire debacle as well. How was it possible that somebody who had hated her kind for so long had come to feel the longing that she herself was so familiar with? She wondered too how long it had taken him to get up the nerve to ask her to dance the other night. Was it a split second decision, or did he go back and forth with it in his head, which had to have been full anguish and despair? She didn't know. It was still even possible he was making up the whole thing, which was part of a larger concoction on behalf of the others in his clan. Though at this point that scenario seemed unlikely, she knew she could never trust him. She told herself she should never forget that fact. Spell or no spell, he was still a Skeksis, full of villainy and deceit.

After about five minutes of sobbing her eyes out, and wondering she would ever find her way out of this unconceivable mess, She got up, went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up. She was about to walk out the door to the communal room when her phone rang. She did not recognize the number on her caller id.

"Hello?"

"Kira." Her heart jumped up about three inches into her throat as she recognized the gruff, but soft voice on the other end of the phone.

She closed her eyes and prayed silently to herself. "Yes? Who is this?" She already knew the answer to this question, as much as she tried to pretend to herself that she didn't.

"It's me, Na Na. Listen, I want to talk to you. Are you free today?"

"About what?" she responded. "Unless you have any new information, the answer is no. I'm sorry, but please understand it's not going to do either of us any good otherwise." She could no longer deny to herself how desperately she wanted to see him, but she also conceived that giving into her torment could never lead to anything constructive.

Na Na, who had always been accustomed to getting what he wanted, did not take lightly her refusal. "Gelfling, do you want to figure this out or not? Or would you rather mope around your room all day, wondering what answers I might have been able to give you? You want to know something? I think you might actually enjoy this." Stinging antagonism dripped from his voice.

Attempting to hide her sudden anger by ignoring his last sentence, she responded, "So, you're saying you actually have answers this time. Is that it? You actually have something new to tell me."

"I might. But we should not discuss it over the phone. One never knows who's listening on the other end."

A billion thoughts popped into her head at once, all jumbled together with no rhyme or reason. She needed to see him so badly it almost physically hurt, yet she could not let that be the reason for agreeing. If he had actual information that could help both of them end this sick and twisted incantation that had fallen over them, that was another thing completely. Or at least, those were the thoughts she wanted to believe.

"Where do you want to meet me then?"

"I thought that might make you come around. Do you remember that small diner we ate at a couple of weeks ago?"

"All the way out in Kent City?" Kira responded, astounded that he would pick something so far away.

"Yes, I think that's the name of the town. Why don't you meet me out there, say around two o'clock? Nobody seemed to recognize us there then, and I don't think they would now."

"Do you know that for certain? Like you said yourself, nobody can find this out. At least, anyone who's not responsible for what has been done to us."

"It's the safest place I can think of for now. Unless you have any other suggestions."

Kira thought logically it might actually be safer, from public eyes at least, to meet in either her room or his, but quickly thought better of it. No, she reconsidered to herself. That was probably the most dangerous place of all.

"No, the diner is fine. I'll meet you there at two o'clock."

"See you then."

They both hung up the phone and headed out. As Na Na got into his car and drove out of town towards the diner, that creeping, uncomfortable feeling rushed over him once more like a lead balloon, crushing the already swirling thoughts that were going through his brain. Such a feeling might have been easily recognizable to any being other outside his race, but to Na Na, it was completely foreign. On top of the flustered confusion about the female gelfling that he was already dealing with, this was another unwanted emotion that he did not want to handle. Unbeknownst to him, there was actually a name for it. It was called guilt, and it was sweeping over him like a cyclone, coming at him from all directions.

Kira was the first to arrive. She picked a table in the corner behind the fake plastic palm trees, one as far from general visibility as she could find.

"Hi miss, can I get you anything?" The waitress asked. "Is anyone joining you?"

"Yes, and yes. Thanks." Kira would not look her in the eye.

The waitress stared at the girl, waiting to hear what she was going to order. "Well, what would you like, ma'am?"

"Oh yeah, that." Kira replied, fumbling through her menu, purposely not looking at the waitress, and trying to keep calm. "I'll have an iced T with lemon. That will be all for now."

"Thanks miss, that will be right out."

"Thank you."

The waitress brought Kira her drink. About five minutes later, Na Na walked in through the door. Wearing dark sunglasses, he was dressed slightly more conservatively this time, at least by Skeksis standards, not wanting to bring attention to himself. Certain items however, he could not bring himself to forgo, such as his red snake-leather jacket, nor the multi-jeweled rings on his fingers. He peered around the corner, eyed Kira's table, and sat down across from her. The waitress immediately came by to take his order. He ordered the same thing he had the last time, some chicken liver and some cheese sticks. Kira still did not have much of an appetite.

"Glad to see you could make it," Na Na said, removing his sunglasses so  
he could look her in the eye.

"Sure. What is it you wanted to see me about?" She replied curtly, diligently pulling her eyes away from his gaze.

"That will come later. Right now, I want to see how you are doing."

"How I'm doing? Are you serious? How in the hell do you think I'm doing, Na Na? Take a wild guess!" she exclaimed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Well, I think I can already tell you that, being that you are not the only one who was drawn into this mess. Or have you already forgotten our conversation from the week before? Somehow, I doubt it."

This time Kira looked him straight in the eye, seriously ticked at his overtly calm, condescending demeanor. "Just put yourself in my shoes for a second," she replied. "Then tell me how you think I feel."

"I just got done telling you, Kira. I am in your shoes."

"No, I don't think you are. Not truly. I don't think somebody such as yourself could ever be."

"How do you mean?"

Finally pulling her gaze back towards his intent stare, Kira had had about all she could take. "What I mean is this. You never had your home purposely burned to the ground. You never saw your mother lay dying as she lay bleeding on the ground, ravaged by those black monsters built by the ones who hated us for god knows why. You have never have been a small child being forced to pick and leave the only place you ever called home for fear of your very life. You have never witnessed the kind strangers, who took me in as a small child, be ransacked by the same genocidal assholes that killed your family. You also have never been the target of some cruel prank that made you become completely infatuated and obsessed with the one who was the cause of all this misery you have ever known. Skeksis bastard, do not sit here and tell me to my face that you are in my shoes. You are not, and you never will be."

Na Na was stunned. He searched for words to counter her attack, but found none. His gut instinct told him to tell her the same, to basically go fuck herself, walk out and be done with it. Someone such as herself should not even be worth a minute of his time. A smaller part of him however, just could not let any of this go. In the past, lesser insults against the former slave-master, especially from someone of her kind, would have been dealt with severely. These however, were not those times, and this situation was now anything but normal. Not only did she render him speechless, that creeping, sick feeling once again washed over him like a bad nightmare, this time in plain sight for him to see. Guilt and remorse were not things that were in his nature to feel, but some feelings were too difficult to escape once they presented themselves. A million thoughts whirled through his mind before he was finally able to speak.

"I see. However let me say…"

Kira interrupted him before he could finish. "No, I don't think you do see, nor do I think you ever will. Now tell me why it was you wanted to see me. I have other things to do today that do not include keeping company with somebody such as yourself."

Once again, he had to almost physically force himself to maintain his composure. "Gelfling, I am trying to help you. I'm trying to help both of us. Now calm the fuck down, and let's see what we've got to work with here."

Kira laughed in disbelief. "Skeksis, I seriously doubt you are trying to help me. Granted, you may be trying to help yourself - that part I believe. But me? Don't insult my intelligence."

"Does it matter who I'm trying to help? You want this sick game to end, do you not? After all, that is why you're agreed to see me, isn't it?" He couldn't help but grin at her as he said this, with a wry smile on his face. Kira immediately recognized the thoughts that might be going through his head, and it made her sick to her stomach. In spite of his own dilemma, a darker part of him did enjoy the fact that at least he was not alone in this madness. If he had to suffer through this, at least he had company.

"Of course I do," she replied, forcing her self to look directly at him. "That's the only reason I agreed to come out here in the first place." She could not allow him any satisfaction in thinking she had any other motive but that.

"Then stop throwing insults at me. It's getting us nowhere. Trust me, there's much more I could say back to you on certain matters, but that's not going to help us either."

Kira couldn't help but wonder what on earth he could have meant by that, after all, she had never done anything to him personally to justify his kind's insane hatred toward her. At this point, however, she thought better than to bring that up – the conversation was already headed in circles, and she wanted desperately to get to bottom of why he had brought her here. "Alright. But I think I've given you an answer to the ridiculous question of how I am doing. Now tell me what it was you had to say to me."

Na Na at first did not say anything, nor would he not look her in the eye. Kira, who seemed to be blessed with a certain superior intuition about people, began to become suspicious. A gentle voice, however, did replace her harsh defensive tone from earlier. "Na Na, tell me please," she repeated. "Why have you brought me out here?" She would not break her gaze from him as he continued to look away. She glanced at his hands, which were resting gently on the table. She narrowly fought back a subconscious instinct that wanted to take his hand in hers.

"All right, gelfing. It's because I still can't sleep at night. I don't know if it's directly tied in to anything, but I thought you should know." It was the best answer he could come with. Truth be told, it was the only answer he had to her question, and he had known it all along. Kira's jaw dropped to the ground in disgusted amazement.

"You're kidding. That's it?" She could almost physically feel herself growing angrier by the second.

"Yes. How about you?"

"Oh my god. Oh my god! You got me to meet you all the way out here, when you knew nothing at all. How could you lie to me like that? Oh wait, don't answer that, because I already know. It's in your nature. You deceitful, lying bastard." There was nothing she could have done to wipe the appalled look of ire off of her face.

"I didn't lie to you Kira," he replied, still trying to cover for himself. "I really can't sleep.  
I don't know why."

"Yes, Na Na, you do know why. You just don't want to say it. And neither do I. So I won't." Kira laid her head down towards the floor and pounded her fist into the table. She fought back the tears that wanted to drain down her face. She wanted to ask him again why he had brought her all the way out to this godforsaken place to meet up with him when he had no answers at all for her, nor nothing new to tell her. She didn't, however. She already had the answer to that question, and it terrified the very life out of her.

"What is wrong with you? I simply told you what I said to you a couple of weeks ago. I can't sleep, and it seems to be getting worse."

"That's just it, Na Na! You have already told me this," she replied, raising her head from the table. "The truth is, you had nothing new to tell me at all. You lied to me. You just wanted to meet me out here, just for the sake of meeting up with me. You know we cannot do that!"

"Are you saying I have a different reason for bringing you out here? Is that it?"

Kira did not answer his question. She simply looked at him silently, not wanting to say what she already knew.

"Well, I think you can rest easy where that area is concerned. You're about as safe from me as I am from you."

She did not quite understand if that last quip was a taunt, or if he was actually trying to comfort her. Nevertheless, it didn't matter. She certainly did not trust him, and she was beginning to trust herself even less. Just as she added this idea to the many other fragmented thoughts running through her head, the waitress brought Na Na his food.

"Would you like some cheese sticks?" He asked her, talking with his mouth full, trying to change the subject. Her outward display of agitated turmoil only added to his own growing discomfort.

"No." A moment passed. "Alright fine." Kira couldn't help it - she was hungry too. "So you are certain, Na Na, that's all you had to tell me - that you can't sleep, and it's getting worse. If you know anything else, anything else at all, please. Now is the time to say it." She was as desperate for information as he was - any little tidbit to give this meeting at least some rightful purpose.

"I already told you. I can't sleep. That's all. How about you? You never did answer me. That's why I wanted to know in the first place how you were doing."

She knew she could forget about sleeping tonight as well. She just wanted this whole thing to end, and she had not a clue how to do it.

"Same as you," she answered honestly, shifting her eyes towards her glass.

"I see," he replied, also looking away from her. He did not know what else to say. Knowing Kira was at the same point was not exactly comforting to him by any standard. Then again, maybe it was exactly what he was hoping for. Why, he would never know – all of these new emotions were previously foreign to him, whether she was his worst enemy or a close ally. Na knew one thing - she was right about his motives, even if he didn't know it himself at first. Not only was he also disgusted with this situation; he was actually disgusted with himself. Why was he so infatuated with her? He couldn't call it love; after all, he really could not define the word if he tried. He'd never loved anyone, not even himself. But here she was, and she was so beautiful, so fragile. He could no longer bring himself to hate her the way he did before.

"Well, tell me then. Since you really had nothing new to tell me, and yet you tell me your intentions are strictly pure, what do you hope to gain from this meeting? Knowing what you do about me?" She consciously did not want to ask this question, but a part of her couldn't help it. She knew she was already on dangerous ground, and this was only taking her further in.

"You're asking me how it makes me feel, knowing you're in the same boat? It's not exactly comforting. Let's leave it at that."

"No it's not, is it, is it." The way he looked at her gave her a strange mixture  
of terror and excitement simultaneously.

"No. Look, you're right Kira, this probably wasn't a good idea," he said, looking down towards the table in front of him. He suddenly had no appetite for his half eaten cheese sticks lying on the table.

"No, it wasn't," she responded softly, trying not to sound too harsh.

There was a small pause, and then she began again. "Look Na Na, I believe you when you tell me you are not the one behind this. But we cannot keep seeing each other this way, unless there's a good reason for it. You know this."

"Yes, you're right." Not realizing at first what he was doing, he took her hand in his from across the table, and just looked at her. This startled Kira to no end, but she did not want to let go. A couple of moment passed, as they gazed into each other's eyes, trying to make sense of something that had no reason or logic. Finally, she was able to break his grasp. Her heart was in her throat, and she wanted to cry.

"I should go." If she stayed any longer, she didn't think she would be able to breathe. Nothing good would come of this, and she no longer trusted herself around him. There was no longer any legitimate reason for her to be here, other than entertaining thoughts that in no way could possibly happen.

"Yes, you're probably right."

"Okay, I'm going now. I'll get my bill at the cash register."

Before he could reply, she got up out of her chair, walking quickly as she could to the cashier, paid her bill, got in her car, and made the long drive home. She looked in her rearview mirror, and saw that he had not followed, at least not right away. If he was either finishing his meal or simply sitting there pondering what had just happened, she didn't care. She just knew she had to get away from him before something happened further than just touching of hands. Pondering these thoughts still, she exited the elevator, keeping her pace just one step slower than a run back down the seemingly long hallway to her apartment.

"Hey Kira!" Waved Marty as she passed her in a whirlwind down the hall on the way to her room.

"Hi Marty," she replied softly under her breath, not looking directly at her neighbor as she almost ran past.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Marty called out behind her, as Kira was in a split second several feet away.

"Just errands to run, that's all!"

Kira entered her room and promptly closed the door behind her before her friend could even respond. Out of everything she had ever been through, she thought to herself, this predicament by comparison dwarfed anything else she would ever face. Almost amusingly, she reckoned, she'd take fighting off Garthim any day over dealing with the impossible attraction to the one who should have been only a most hated adversary. His face came back to her mind, taunting her with that sick, knowing smile of his. "God." She said out loud to herself, lying on her bed facing the ceiling, and breathing out a deep gasp of air. "He really is a bastard."


	8. Chapter 8: Rock and Roll Lifestyle

**Chapter 8: Rock and Roll Lifestyle**

Two weeks had passed since their meeting, and they both had painfully managed to not run into each other. Although far from being an alcoholic, Na Na had found himself to be drinking more these days, attempting to offset the unwanted emotions that he was inexplicably feeling for that particular girl that should have been his natural enemy. Yes, he had kept his eyes open, just as he had requested of her, but just like Kira, the more he looked around himself, the more he came up with nothing. As he paced around his small apartment becoming increasingly agitated, he looked at his watch. The time had come to leave for band practice.

Na Na entered the small warehouse located just off of the property downtown where the Random House sat. Along with SkekTek, their former scientist on keyboards, SkekUng, their Garthim master on lead guitar, and SkekZok, the ritual master on drums and synthesizers, the former slave master was the lead singer for a recent band they had put together called Skinny Puppy. While on stage, he went by the moniker of Ogre, although this had a hard time catching on, and most people still referred to him as Na Na. Through their music, along with the hard, spasmodic industrial beat that accompanied Na Na's fierce growling, almost inhuman vocals, they sang of death, destruction, and the things that would make most everyday, normal people not want to leave their homes for fear of their own sanity. While definitely not a mainstream band, they still had a growing cult following among outsiders and Random House residents alike that was almost enough to satisfy their craving of power and domination while at the same time being adored and admired on stage.

SkekEkt, although not a member of the band in the normal sense, not only designed and developed their album covers, but much of the stage props and set theatrics as well. She attended most of their rehearsals, and probably out of all the Skeksis who were not formal members, gave the most support to them. SkekSil, their former chamberlain, acted as their public relations assistant, although most of the time he could be found chatting it up with underage girls, or taking part in all the fine mind altering substances that came with facilitating a dark, industrial band such as this one.

SkekTek, who was preoccupied with tuning their amplifiers, and coordinating their synthesizers, was dressed today rather casually for a Skeksis, wearing baggy, stonewashed jeans with several layers of silk, cotton and polyester shirts. Draped over top was a long, rather ratty and frayed cardigan sweater. A dozen or so different silver and gold necklaces hung from his neck. Like the rest of the Skeksis, he was far younger looking here than back on Thra, and was complete with all his limbs, despite the mutilation he had done to himself back at the Crystal Castle. Having far superior intelligence, well past the point of madness, he always wore a creepy smile on his face, and those who knew him never wanted to question why or how. It was because answers usually either didn't make any sense to those asking, or worse, the answers were so frightening it was just thought best to leave him alone.

"Hey Na Na, we have a show booked next week at the Intersection, correct?" the mad scientist called out to the former slave master across the room.

"Yeah, it's not this Friday, but the next. Make sure you're prepared too," Na Na replied authoritatively, lighting a cigarette. "We want don't want to this fuck up. "

"Did I say I was going to?" Tek shot back, almost hostilely.

"No, I'm just saying. Be on top of your game. That's all," he responded.

Tek changed the subject. "By the way, you know I saw that little shit gelfling was in the communal room hanging out near our gear. What's his name, the dark haired one – Jem, I think.

"What about him?" The last thing Na Na wanted to think about was gelflings, any gelfling for that matter, not just one in particular.

"You know they're all little thieves. I'd watch them real close; keep an eye on them if you know what I mean. I'm sure he'd have an eye out to hock our equipment if you let him." Although this accusation was of course, way off base, in Tek's deranged mind it was the absolute truth.

"I'm sure you're right, Tek. I've thought about investing in some security here at the warehouse, so we can store it here, instead of lugging our shit back and forth all the time." Although it had subconsciously occurred to him Jen was more than likely innocent of those charges, he outwardly agreed with him nonetheless.

"Great idea. Let's do it. I'll talk to Shod to getting that getting that in order for us. I don't think she should have a problem," replied Tek, referring to SkekShod, their castle treasurer.

There was a moment's pause before Tek started up again. "And what's his little girlfriend's name - that blonde little waste of trash? We should have drained her properly while we had the chance. It's bad enough we live on the same floor with those detestable things."

Kira's name suddenly popped into Na Na's head, although he resisted the urge to say it out loud. A sickening feeling entered his stomach; so sudden it almost doubled him over. An acute sense of infuriation swept over him, although he could not tell who or where it was directed. Above all, he had no idea where these uncomfortable feelings of petulance were coming from. From all that he knew, the former scientist should have been right. She was a waste of trash, wasn't she? That's what he had always been taught from the very beginning. So what had changed to cause him to no longer believe that?

"Yeah, I know what you mean," was all he could mutter under his breathe, looking away, carefully not looking Tek in the eye.

Meanwhile, back at the Random House, alone in her room, Kira was once again contemplating everything that had happened to her, especially regarding Na Na. She could not remember how long she had been in this little predicament, but it couldn't have been more than seven or eight months, that she did know. In truth, it had only been exactly four months since her friend Eros's little life-changing blunder, but time gets blurry when caught up in confusing emotions such as these. She tried to concentrate on happier things, things she truly enjoyed, such as her job as a journalist for the Random Times, and through it all the different people she was able to meet. It was then that she remembered one interview in particular that she had done, a little less than a year ago.

She remembered walking into work that day, picking up a list of potential assignments, and abruptly running into her manager who appeared to be quite unsettled. Thinking this could possibly give her a clue; she replayed the entire scenario through her head as if it were yesterday:

"Kira, thank god I found you!" Her manager exclaimed, obviously relieved to see her.

"Hey Cynthia, how are you? Is everything all right? You look a little flustered."

"Well, I sort of am. Newt can't make it in today; she said something about having chest pains. Well, she's probably just sick, but you know how she gets. I'd be the same way too if I lived on that floor with those creatures."

"Completely understood! That alien – what's her name – Jaloshala, I think - she is absolutely nuts!" Kira agreed, referring to the humanized alien xenomorph who lived on the same floor with Newt and her adoptive mother, Ellen Ripley and a dozen or so other soldiers who were part of the Marine Corps.

"Anyways, I don't have anybody else to do the interview. Are you available?"

"Sure, I don't mind! I've been looking for some extra work, anyways. Who will I be interviewing, and when is it?"

Cynthia scanned Kira up and down; a little nervous about what she was about to request of her.

"It's tonight."

"That's a little short notice, but that's okay. I don't have anything planned. Who is it, Cynthia?"

"Um, that's just it. We'd be willing to pay you extra to do this. We don't have ANYBODY else to do this interview, and we really want this on tape to broadcast on tomorrow's morning slot." Cynthia was referring to the Random House's news and arts channel, which they both worked directly for, called Random Exposed, which was broadcast solely and exclusively to the residents who lived there.

"Okay Cynthia, you're starting to make me nervous. Who will I be interviewing?"

"Skinny Puppy." Her expression was deadpan.

Kira's jaw dropped. "Skinny Puppy. Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Are you mad? How am I supposed to interview them when they can't even stand the sight of me?" She honestly could not think of anything less pleasant at the moment than this little task that was being offered to her.

"Like I said, you know that we would pay you extra."

"I don't know, Cynthia, I really don't think it's a good idea. Besides the fact that the members of the band are pretty much responsible for every horrible thing that's ever happened to me, I'm not a big fan of their music. It's downright scary. The music has no rhythm whatsoever, and the vocals sound like the lead singer's about to eat me. You can't even dance to it."

"It doesn't matter if you like them, you just have to interview them. You know how it goes. Ask them questions you think their fans might want to know."

She did remember seeing them live on one occasion, playing with a bunch of other local Random House bands at some 'open to the public-type' festival a couple of months prior with Vera and Marty. She didn't like them then, and she liked them less now.

"I don't know, Cynthia. The whole thing sounds..."

"One thousand dollars."

Kira's shaky expression turned into excited shock. "Are you kidding? For a fifteen minute interview? One that I'm sure will turn sour five minutes into it, if that?"

"Alright, fifteen hundred. That's my final offer."

Kira thought about it for a moment. Fifteen hundred dollars for one interview. That could buy a lot of shoes. Hell, that could buy her a lot of things. And all she had to do was spend fifteen minutes in front of the camera, conversing with her worst adversaries. "Are you serious?"

"You asked me that already. And the answer is still the same, Kira."

She took in a heavy breath. She reasoned with herself that the worst thing that could happen was they might swear at her on camera. Either way, she still got paid. "Alright, I'll do it. Oh my god, I still can't believe I'm agreeing to this."

"Thank you so much for your help, Kira! You know I will make this up to you!

"You'd better!" She grinned slightly as Cynthia gave her a quick hug.

The truth was, even gelflings could be bought. Or, at least part of that was true. Part of Kira really wanted to help a friend, and at this time that happened to be her manager. Perhaps if the two reasons were separate, that is, only one or the other existed, she may have passed on it. Combined however with the prospect of cold hard cash, and the opportunity to lend a helping hand, Kira accepted the offer.

The interview itself actually went smoother than she expected it to. Other than the looks on the Skeksis' faces when they saw who would be interviewing them (which she actually had to admit was quite amusing), it really was a no-brainer. They were more unprepared for this than she was. She just got a list together of generic questions she really thought their fans might want to know before hand, and that was that. Where they got their start, how they met (which she already knew), their musical influences, etcetera, etcetera. Other than one snide remark from SkekTek towards her pertaining to the topic of genocide in one of their songs, she came out of it relatively unscathed. In the weeks and months that followed, she also seemed to be favored when it came to getting the fun projects and tasks, which was never a bad thing.

As she focused on this memory, she tried to think of what emotions were going through her head at the time of the interview when she was face to face with Na Na. Was it the same confused entanglement of adoration, lust, love, hate and repulsion that she now was accustomed to, or was it simply the latter two? She couldn't be quite sure, but if it was, she thought she would remember something like that after the whole thing was said and done. She didn't. She simply remembered the excitement of collecting her paycheck, thinking even the most difficult things sometimes have their rewards.

She began to stare at her telephone. Perhaps it meant nothing; perhaps it could be another clue to the puzzle. She didn't know. Pulling out her wallet, she looked at the phone number she had written down and saved off of her caller ID two weeks prior. God, she did not want to call him. God, she had to call him or she'd go insane. But wasn't she, already? How could it possibly get any worse?

Kira picked up the phone and dialed the number.

After about four rings, she was about to hang up when Na Na finally answered.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding rather groggy.

"Hello, Na Na. It's me. Kira."

"Oh. You. Hello."

"Did I wake you? You sound like you just woke up."

"Yes and no. I was finally able to get a little bit of sleep, but I've just been mainly lying awake with my eyes open. I'm sure you know how that goes."

Yes she did. A short moment passed before she spoke again, getting straight to the reason for her phone call. "Look, I have a question to ask you. It pertains to our little problem."

Na Na chuckled. "I'm sure it does. Why else would you call me?"

"That's very funny." She said with unrestrained sarcasm. She wasn't quite sure if he was referring to the fact that given their natural hatred for each other, she should have _no_ other reason to call him, or if he was taunting her with the fact that he was well aware she couldn't stop thinking about him. Nevertheless, it didn't matter. "Anyways Na Na..."

He interrupted. "Kira – before you go any further, whatever you have to ask me, I don't think it should be discussed here. Telephone lines in this world are funny things, and you never know who else is on the line with you." Still being semi unfamiliar with this world and all of the technology that went along with it, as well as having a leaning towards slight paranoia just like all of the others of his kind, Na Na was about to ask if he could meet up with her again. Kira felt differently.

"If you are going to ask me if we can meet up again, the answer is no. You know we can't do that. I've already explained this." She almost wanted to ask him again what his true intentions really were, but immediately thought better of it.

He reconsidered. "Then tell me what it was you wanted to ask me."

"Do you remember that interview I did with your band about a year ago?"

Na Na laughed. "Yes, of course. How could I forget? As a matter of fact, how could the entire Random House forget? I always wondered how they talked you into doing that."

"That's a story for another time. Anyways, I need to know something." Kira paused, trying to find her words. "What was going through your head during the interview?"

"Like I said before, I was wondering why you agreed to do the interview. We were all caught by surprise by it. I know Ung and Tek both were quite angry about it afterwards, even myself, but there was nothing we could really do."

"What else?"

"What else what?"

"You know what I mean, Na Na. I don't want to have to spell it out."

"Oh, you mean that. If you're asking what it is I think you're asking, the answer is a definite no. Nothing unnatural was going through my head. Quite the opposite. Believe me, I had thought of that too, in trying to figure out when this all started. Is that all you needed to know?"

"That's it," she replied.

"How about you?" he asked, not wanted to end the conversation just yet. "What was going through your head?"

"Same as you. Nothing. I just wanted to end that interview as quickly as I could." Her voice was flat and to the point.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure about what? Trust me, I enjoyed doing that as much as I enjoy rubbing sand paper across my eyes."

"Interesting. If that's true, then why did you agree to do it?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder."

Na Na laughed. "If nothing, well, how do I say this – strange, was going through your head when you and I were conversing during the interview, how much did they pay you then?

"Same answer Na Na. See above." She reckoned rightfully her paycheck was none of his business.

"Was it more than the usual fair? Twice maybe? Three times?"

"What does it matter?" She asked, becoming increasingly annoyed with this interrogation. His outward display of arrogance reminded her rather painfully of who he was. He was so typical for his kind.

"Just curious, that's all. I just wanted to know how much shows such as these, even one that's closed off to the public, pay to get ratings."

"You think it was for ratings that they wanted me to do that interview?"

"If you're telling me the truth on this matter, then I _know_ it was."

"Well, if you must know, I was filling in for somebody else who was sick." At first, this idea sounded almost absurd to her, but then, as she gave it some thought, slowly it started to make slightly a bit of sense. Why else would they pay her that extravagant amount just to fill in for somebody who couldn't be there that day?

"And you just openly agreed to do it without any hesitation."

"Of course not. I told you this already – this was not my idea of entertainment."

"I'm sure others were entertained by it though. And you had fun afterwards, I'm sure." She could almost hear him smiling in his conceit on the other end of the phone.

"For the third time Na Na, that is not your business. I have to go now. I got what I needed to know."

Without so much as saying goodbye, the two hung up the phone.

Na Na was indeed correct; the whole thing was set up in order to create more viewers. Even for a closed off network circuit, they had advertisers they had to answer to, advertisers who wanted nothing more than to see high profile Random House residents wearing their clothes or using their shampoo. That little interview had accomplished just that. Even in an extraordinary place such as this where the rent was free and food was provided, Kira slowly began to realize, there would always be a price.


	9. Chapter 9: Outward Appearances

**Chapter 9: Outward Appearances**

Marty stood in front of the refrigerator in the communal room, wondering which how much raw steak she could take out for herself without getting reprimanded that she had eaten someone else's dinner. She was caught off guard as Jen entered through the doorway right behind her.

"Jen, oh my god, you scared me half to death. You're lucky, you know," she said with laughter in her voice.

"I'm sure I am, Marty," Jen replied, looking up at her. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh this and that. Trying not to scare the locals. You know how it goes. Listen Jen, I've been meaning to talk to you. I know it's none of my business, but have you talked to Kira lately?"

"No," Jen replied again, looking away. "It's been at least a few weeks. I see her in passing, but that's about it."

"Yeah, she seems to be avoiding everybody, not just you. The only place I ever do see her at is the club. It's the one place she can't stay away from, I guess. She just sits in the corner, staring off into space, dancing maybe occasionally. I'm getting worried about her. She looks terrible."

"I know," he replied with a look of understanding. "I have tried to help her. Believe me, I have done everything within my power, but the more I try to help, the more she pushes me away. Even though we're no longer together, I still care about her and want her to be happy. I can tell she's anything but that. I don't know if she's sick, or what the problem is. She's completely shut me out, and there's not a thing I can do about it."

"I'm sorry Jen, I don't mean to bring that up. I just wondered if you knew anything, that's all. I used to talk to her all the time, living next door to her and all, but now I hardly ever see her. I don't know if she locks herself in her room all day, or if she's gone somewhere else."

"Maybe _they've_ done something to her." Jen said. Marty did not need to ask whom he was referring to. "Those things. Those skeksis. I wouldn't put it past them. Even here, I know they are capable of terrible, terrible things."

"Yeah, they're all a little nuts. Amusing at times, yes, but they're all whacked as all get out. Especially their scientist, what's his name? Tek. That's it. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with him?"

"No Marty, can't say that I have." Jen replied with a sarcastic smile.

"No, of course you haven't, what was I thinking!" The human Tyrannosaurus said, laughing out loud. Jen grinned briefly.

"Anyways, Marty I have to run. I told UrSu I would meet up with him later for coffee," he said, referring to his former urRu master, the wisest of the Mystics.

"Alright, catch you later."

As Jen walked down the hallway to grab a coat in his room before going out, he passed Kira who was just getting back from a morning walk. The outdoor air had actually put some color back into her cheeks and it happened to be a rare occasion that she was feeling semi normal. She was able to find the strength within herself to actually smile and say hello.

"Hi Jen!" She exclaimed, trying to find a genuine smile to put on her face.

"Kira! How are you?" Jen replied back to her, unable to hide his nervousness. He did not want to scare her off, but he desperately wanted to get to the bottom of what had been troubling her.

"I'm well, thanks! Just up to the same old thing you know. Are you going out to the club tonight?" Over the past couple of months, despite her pale look, she had gotten much practice at hiding the turmoil that had mixed up her insides. In fact, she had become quite good at it.

"I don't know, Kira." He looked at her again, and then reconsidered. "You know what? Yeah, I'll go. I haven't been there in quite awhile and I think it would do me some good to see some new faces."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight then."

"Yeah. See you tonight."

He wanted to say so much more to her than that, but at this time, he knew it was best not to press his luck. She seemed semi happy today, and he decided to leave it be. Besides, he would see her tonight. Maybe then he could get up the nerve to ask her to question her further.

She walked into her room, closed the door, put her back up against it, slid down to a seated position, and let out a deep sigh of relief. The last thing she should do now was get close to Jen again, especially considering the way she felt, but she also knew she could not avoid him forever. If he was at the club, so what? She had to keep her head up, but she also did not want to give him the wrong idea. She could only hope he had not read more into it than what was really there.

As miracles do happen, she was actually able to take a short nap before getting ready to go out.

She woke up just in time to get ready, then got up and looked through her closet, trying to find something to wear that would not draw a certain Skeksis's attention. Then again, she wanted his attention. She wanted it so desperately she could taste it.

"Must not think about you." Kira said out loud. It was the first time she had openly said something like this to herself, even if no one else was around. Deciding to wear her shiny flaxen blonde hair down for the evening, she put on a pair of jeans with a rather glittery sequined velvet tank top. She put on a charm necklace, and a pair of knee high suede boots. The look was funky, without being over the top. She applied a slight bit make-up; her flawless skin not requiring much to bring out her natural beauty. She ran a brush through her hair one last time, and headed out.

The night started out half way normal, or at least, as normal could get for her these days. Just as she thought she would, she ran into Jen and made small talk over the music. It was the least he deserved, she decided, after all, none of this mess was his fault. She wished desperately she could bring herself to tell him the truth. In spite of logic telling her, however, none of this was her fault either; no amount of inner strength could bring her to do so.

Just as she could expect as well, Na Na entered the club about 10:30pm, accompanied by two of his clan members, all dressed head to toe in layers of dark cottons, velvets and silks, and bedecked in as much silver and jewels as they could possibly lay their hands on. As usual, he had outlined his eyes in black eyeliner, which couldn't help but zero in on Kira the moment he saw her. Wrapped up within themselves in their own little self-centered worlds, Ung and Tek did not notice their comrade's uncertain smile the moment he laid eyes on the gelfling.

Kira of course, could not help but notice his presence as well. After locking eyes with his for about three seconds, she abruptly turned her head. She knew he had seen her, and she was unable to hide from him the seemingly unnatural thoughts, which ran unbridled through her mind. Nor could he hide it from her. What was even more surprising was the feeling that rushed over her afterwards. No, this time it was not fear, terror, sickness, or even confusion that plagued her these past few months. Instead, it was the feeling of sadness. Sadness for the fact that even if she did not fear him the way she did, any relationship with Na Na, friendship or otherwise, was still completely illogical and in no way could ever happen.

Eros, who made his arrival moments before the three Skeksis walked in, could not help but notice of the way his two accidental victims had looked at each other. After all, although he had made himself scarce to Kira in recent months, he had still kept an eye on her whenever he could get the chance, which was mainly at the club, or anywhere else out in public where she was seen. He could not reverse the spell, but he could still look out for his friend, if only from a distance.

For Kira, the first few hours of the night went on without any drama or upheaval. Although her heart was heavy tonight, she went on to the dance floor, mingled with her friends, and tried best she could to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary, just like she had done almost every other Saturday for the past several months. The clock turned twelve-thirty. She decided it was time to go to the bathroom to relieve herself and freshen up. For once, she actually did not notice out of the corner of her eye the former Skeksis slave-master approaching in a direction perpendicular to hers. Walking directly in front of him, he nearly tripped over her before she was able to go through the entryway into the women's rest area, knocking her down on the floor. Abruptly realizing the potential jeopardy the two of them were now placed in, she got up, looked him straight in the eye a moment longer, and rushed into the bathroom as fast as her feet would carry her.

Finding a small comfort that she was the only one in there, she closed the stall door and began to sob. She couldn't help it. Every emotion that she had been feeling hit her all at once in one large swoop. Her break up with Jen, being far from her original home on Thra, and above all, her impossible yet very real feelings for the one who had been a part of destroying everything that was near and dear to her back home. How did it ever come to pass that she would be placed in such an excruciating predicament such as this? This place was not supposed to be like this! Submerged deep within her thoughts in the bathroom stall, the music was loud, creating a false security that she was still alone while in the rest room. Kira did not hear Vera, along with Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleontologist who had also spent time at that zoo known as Jurassic Park, enter through the bathroom doorway. She opened the door, about to head to the sink to wash the tears off her face when they both spotted her in her distressed state of mind.

"Kira, are you okay? What's the matter?" Ellie asked her, obviously concerned.

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing." Kira was overcome by an inexplicable sinking feeling this situation was about to get bad, very quickly.

"Are you sure?" Vera asked her. "I saw one of those Skeksis harassing you before you came in here. Are you sure everything's okay?" Though Vera officially took no sides when it came to the feud between the two races, the aggressive side of her personality always loved a good fight, subconsciously pitting her friends against each other, even if she didn't realize she was doing it. Kira could not look her directly. "I'm fine." That was all the words she was able to get out.

"I don't know Kira, you look positively shook up." Ellie replied back.

"I'm not lying, nothing is wrong!" the gelfling shot back, in a much harsher tone than she had meant.

Hearing the anger and desperation in her voice, Vera only grew more suspicious. "I'm sorry Kira, but I don't believe you. I saw that Skeksis asshole knock you down before you got came in here. I'm going to go find that bastard and put a stop to this." Yes, Vera did love a good fight, and she never minded putting herself in the middle of it. As a matter of fact, it was what she was best at.

Kira's face turned a harsh stone shade of white. She was not able to utter a word, although she wanted to yell and scream, anything to get Vera to give up this crusade. She could do neither.

"Vera's right, you can't let those pricks walk all over you. You need to stop being afraid of them." Ellie agreed.

Finally, Kira was able to speak, but it was too late. They were already heading out the door. Following them out, she begged, "Please, I am telling you, nothing's wrong. He just ran into me, that's all. It was an accident!"

"Right Kira. I'm sorry, but there are no accidents with them. He's going to pay for this." Vera was headstrong, and once she was on a mission, there was no stopping her. Whether it was during Earth's Triassic period chasing down large and small prey, or right here right now at this club, the velociraptor was a force to be reckoned with.

Kira followed her friends out the door, still begging them to stop, all the while trying to hide the real reason behind her fear. Stopping Vera, however, once she had set her mind to something, would prove to be an impossible task.

Neither of them would have ever guessed the real reason Kira was so desperate. After all, of course she would not want to confront him. After all they had done to her, why would she? Pacing the half way across the club, they finally spotted Na Na, along with Ung and Tek, sitting at the bar, partaking in a few drinks. Emporor Palpatine and King Zarkon of the planet Doom had joined them.

Ellie took a step back. She was fully well aware of Vera's temperament and did not want to get to close. Kira continued to follow Vera, grasping onto a small ounce of hope she could put a stop to this. Ellie was able to grab her hand, however, and motioned at her to prevent her from going further. She began to try to struggle, but the thought crossed her mind that maybe the paleontologist was right. Despite the impending chaos at hand, she probably did not want to get too close to this already out of control situation. "Don't worry Kira, when she gets through with them, those beasts will never bother you again. Trust me on this one," she said to her with a smile, futilely trying to calm her down.

All she could do was look on helplessly.

"Hey shit for brains. You, over there. SkekNa!" Vera yelled to the former slave master, purposely not using his nickname to get his attention.

"Why, hello Vera. And what is it the fuck you want?" He asked, looking up to her from a seated position, purposely sounding way too charming for the words he had just uttered. The bitter look on her face told him she was obviously not pleased with him.

"Is there a problem tonight?"

Na Na had many problems at the current moment, and as a matter of fact, one very large one at hand. He, of course, was not about to go into that. "No, why do you ask?"

"Because Ellie and I witnessed you harassing our friend over there. Would you like to explain what your problem is with her, or do I have to correct it for you?"

Na Na looked past her and witnessed Ellie standing next to Kira, with her hand on her shoulder, not wanting to let her get too close. Na Na felt his stomach turn into tightly wound knots and a slight panic seemed to take hold. He remembered nearly running into Kira, as focused as he was on her, as she entered the rest room. Was that what Vera was referring to? Had she mistaken that mishap for something other than what it was? Did she think it was something as simple as two bitter enemies having a spat? He could only hope.

Na Na stumbled on his words, looking for an explanation. "I... I... I don't know what the hell you are talking about." He did everything he could within his power not to look at Kira. If he did, he could not help but think he would give himself away.

Ung and Tek began to smile wickedly. They both had the same thought. If what Vera said was true, if he indeed was harassing Kira, their clan member was to be congratulated, not reprimanded for having the balls to do such a daring and noble task.

"Is that so? Kira, come over here." Vera requested, motioning back towards her friend. "Explain to me then what I witnessed by the bathroom. I saw him deliberately run right into you."

A nauseating sensation swept over Kira as her stomach turned over on its side. Crossing her arms in front of her belly in a defensive pose, she honestly thought she was about to throw up from sheer madness. "It was an accident. Vera! Can we please go, this isn't going to do any good." She dared not look at Na Na.

"Accident? He was looking right at you when it happened! He wouldn't take his eyes off you! I don't understand possibly how that could have been an accident!"

Na Na saw his own clan members looking at him, and despite what Vera had just said, he realized that they themselves thought this too was no accident. In fact, the look they held on their faces was one of favor. They too, actually believed he was tormenting Kira, and were obviously pleased. He had no time to think. Instead, in order to save face, he knew he had to run with this.

Na Na stood up, futilely attempting to intimidate Vera by standing taller than her. However, there were very few people in this world, if any, who actually did intimidate her, and SkekNa was not one of them. He gathered his strength, trying to sound as genuine as best he knew how. "Listen bitch, whatever beef we have with that little skanky piece of trash over there, that's our business. We should have drained her of her essence when we had the chance. Then again, she'd probably be even worthless as a slave. She'd do better being used as a pelt for somebody's clothing." For the first time ever, it actually hurt him to say such things. If he didn't, however, this delicate situation could go on a downward spiral very quickly, becoming much worse than it already was.

Kira winced at this, hurt by his words as well. Had they come from any other of his kind, it would not have had the same effect. Logically, she knew he was doing the only thing he could. Anything else could have been a disaster. In spite of this however, it felt like somebody had just ripped out a chunk of her heart and set it on fire.

Ung, their former Garthim-master chirped in. "Yeah Vera, why in the fuck are you hanging out with this sick piece of slime anyways? We really thought better of you!

"Like I care what you or anybody else thinks. I'm giving you a warning. Stay the hell away from her and anybody else like her." Vera said, looking towards Jen who had stepped up to witness this drama. "Do you understand?"

Tek chimed in. "We'll do whatever we feel is necessary, raptor bitch. Those _things_ need to be kept in line."

"Wow, you really are testing me tonight," Vera replied, taking one step closer to in towards the three of them. She could visibly see Tek attempt to retreat within his seat, giving her some satisfaction. Still, she could feel her temper rising. She was of course not one who tolerated such disrespect.

Na Na saw this, and chimed in once more, wanting desperately to put an end to this debacle he had found himself in. "Whatever you say Vera. If you're so fucking close with her, just make sure she stays out of our way. Especially mine. Now, if you don't mind, we were having drinks with our friends here." Palpatine and Zarkon nodded, attempting to contain their wicked laughter at the whole thing.

The three women turned and let them be. Jen followed, wanting to make sure Kira was okay, and of course to find out what really happened. As upsetting as the whole thing was to her, she was short and to the point with him, while maintaining her composure. To witnessing eyes, there would not really be much to tell if everything were as it seemed on the surface. Kira stuck to that thought, and explained it how she thought somebody such as Ellie might have seen the whole thing. The one they called SkekNa had pushed her down, and she ran into the bathroom upset. Vera and Ellie, the good friends that they were, attempted to stick up for her, and that was the end of it. Despite this logical explanation however, he could tell she was shaken. Was everything true as she had told it, or was she leaving something out?

Stepping in as well to witness this minor show down about half way through, Eros pretty much understood the basics of what had happened. Judging from the place in which they lived, and all the different types of people and backgrounds, it was surprising dramatics such as these didn't occur more often. He had full knowledge though, that the story ran much deeper than that. Of course he didn't quite have all the details, but underneath he knew had he not made that little mistake those few months ago, what had just occurred may not have come to pass.

Two a.m. came and it was time to leave. Vera and Ellie had already left a half hour earlier. Saying her goodbyes to her friends, some asked if she thought it was a good idea to walk home alone. Pondering this for a minute, she remembered what others had told her all along. They could not hurt her here. It didn't matter how deep their hate had run through their veins, in this place the Skeksis could not touch her. Taking small comfort in that, almost triumph, Kira explained to her friends she would be fine. Perhaps had she taken them up on this offer, her life at this point may have turned out much different. Not better, not worse, but much different, nonetheless.

She headed out, walking along the street, and back through the grand, almost opulent entrance into the Random House. She approached the elevator and pressed the button for her floor, sending off to the back of her mind any tense feelings that were trying to surface. She then strode through the communal room, heading towards her small apartment. Under the impression she was completely alone, she turned the corner, only a few dozen yards away from home. As she looked off to the perpendicular corridor on her right, she came face to face with the very source of her tormented confusion.

Not saying a word, Na Na walked towards her.

"What, are you following me now?" she asked him as she saw him approaching her direction. Eyeing each other fully, they then looked off to the sides, making sure they were both completely alone.

"Following you? No, I didn't mean to run into you this way. But now that you're here, I do want an explanation of what happened tonight."

"Explanation? Explain what? I owe you nothing, Skeksis." She kept on walking towards her room, quickening her pace. Na Na walked directly beside her.

"I want to know what you told Vera." He would not leave her side, and she was growing anxious that someone might come around the corner and spot them together.

"I told her nothing, Na Na. She saw you knock me down, and read more into it than what there really was. That's the end of it. There's nothing to tell her anyways. We both know this." In fact, they both of course knew was not entirely true, if at all.

The unending sick feeling of guilt had not left him since their encounter at the club. Satisfied she was telling the truth, he got on to a different subject. "You know I had to say what I did tonight to save us both. You do know, that right?" He could bring himself not take his eyes off of her.

"Yes, I know that. And why would I care why you said it? Does it really matter for either of us?"

They both stopped in front of her door.

Na Na looked for the answer to this question. He could not find it. "I don't know, Kira." In his eyes shown the deep confusion of a man truly troubled.

She looked at him for a moment more, before anxiously noticing footsteps coming around the corner. Without hesitation, she looked for her key. Finding it finally after searching franticly in her purse, she swung open her door as fast her arms would allow. There was no time. The footsteps, now accompanied by voices, were getting louder. Of course, had he been thinking clearly, he could have just walked away from her, and no one would have known any different. However, he just stood there, frozen in fear, unable to move. Without thinking, she grabbed Na Na by the wrist, pulling him into her foyer, and closed the door.

The next few moments passed, with the two of them just eyeing each other, listening to the group of people, obviously inebriated, pass by her apartment. She thought she could hear Marty, Vera, and Ellie among them, but she was not entirely sure, nor was she really focusing on that.

She now had a brand new problem, standing right in front of her. She and Na Na were both alone in her apartment, and neither of them was quite sure what to do next.


	10. Chapter 10: Love Thy Enemy

**Chapter 10: Love Thy Enemy**

The clock on the wall read two-fifteen a.m. About two full minutes past, while both of them stood completely silent in Kira's foyer, gazing at each other, waiting for the drunken noise outside to pass. The stark realization swept over her that she was now in an extremely dangerous situation. She did not trust Na Na one ounce, and she was beginning to trust herself even less. Though what he said to her at the club sounded to anyone else beyond threatening, that was not the part she was worried about.

"Do you think they've passed?" He asked her, after holding his breathe without realizing it. He let out a gasp of air.

"I'm not sure. I think I still hear something." As much as she wanted him gone (or so she told herself), she wanted to risk him being seen leaving her apartment even less.

The two of them stood there for another couple minutes. Na Na spoke again, finally breaking the silence.

"I meant what I said out in the hallway. I only said those things to you in front of everybody at the club to keep us from being put both at risk."

"And I already told you. It shouldn't even matter."

"Well, I just wanted you to know." He was beginning to feel increasingly awkward, not really knowing or understanding the correct way to make an apology.

"Well, I wish you did mean it." Her lips were quivering steadily, as she looked directly upon him.

"Me too. It certainly would make things easier." No matter the effort put forth, he also could not take his eyes off of her.

"Na Na, I need you to tell me something," she announced in a slow and deliberate tone.

"Yes?"

"What was it you did back at the Crystal castle?"

"Do you mean my occupation?" He inquired.

"Yes."

"I tended to the slaves. Made sure all the daily chores were completed. I thought you knew that."

"Yes, I do, but I want you tell me more about it. I need to know details. You were an executioner at one point, were you not?"

"Yes I was. Why are you asking?"

"Because I need to know. I need you to explain to me how it was you who put to death the ones who would not cooperate at the castle, even after being drained of their very soul. I need to know in full detail every cruel thing you ever did to my own kind, and to the podlings – the ones that raised me after my parents were killed. It's rumored you even murdered one of your kind once, long ago, over some minor dispute or altercation. Is that true as well?"

Na Na was caught completely off guard by her questions. He just looked at her, trying to figure out if after months of anguish and confusion, if she had finally gone mad. "Why? And that last part – where in the fuck did you hear that?"

"It doesn't matter where I heard it. I just need to know this for my own sake and my own sanity."

Another moment passed, as the basis of her questions finally clicked with him. "I know why you're doing this."

"It doesn't matter why. I just need to know. Now tell me, please." Her tone was growing increasingly harsher.

"No."

"Why not? It's a simple question, Na Na."

"Because if I tell you those things, it won't make any of '_this,'_ go away. I've tried the same thing. It doesn't work."

She thought about this for a minute. She thought of taking her hand with his, and dream-fasting with him if he wouldn't tell her directly, but then reconsidered. First of all, the person she was dream-fasting with had to be willing to do it, and she was not certain someone of his kind was even had the ability. Second, the fact was, she _was_ indeed truly afraid of what she might see, if they were to share their memories like that with one another.

"I didn't ask you your opinion on why I need to know. Just answer me! Tell me what you've done!" She looked directly at him, almost shaking, sounding completely distraught.

"No, Kira. I owe you no explanation of why, but here it goes anyways. First, I do not take orders from you. Second, I have already told you, this will not help. No matter what I tell you, you will still lie awake at night, wishing things that can't possibly come true."

She felt her face turn hot at his last remark. She shook her head, her voice once again cracking. "I just want this to end. Make it stop!" she actually yelled, her voice full of pure frustration and torment. She then turned, headed into the living, and sat down on the sofa, putting her head in her hands. Na Na followed her, and still standing, leaned up against the wall nearby.

A strong urge came over him to take her in his arms, and console her in her anguish. Besides guilt, this too was an emotion he previously had no experience with. He had never had an urge to help anyone but himself, but all he wanted to do at this moment was take the pain from her, even if it was temporary. He realized though, if he were to actually do that, it would more than likely upset her even further. He remembered being almost gleeful when he saw her so miserable that last time at the diner, nearly downright amused at her torment. This time, however, his feelings were different.

At last, she lifted her head to look up at him; her voice was still shaky with muddled thoughts. "I think whoever was outside might be gone now. You should go." She was about to get up when he motioned for her to stay seated.

"You and I still have things to discuss."

"There is nothing to discuss, Na Na. You're the one who is in my apartment, uninvited."

"I beg to differ. You're the one who pulled me in here. I was about to walk away."

Kira knew that last part was a lie. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now, and chose not to argue that fact. "There were people approaching around the corner. Would you rather they see us together instead?"

"True. But then, you're the one who had to get Vera involved."

"That was not my choice!" she shot back, almost screaming. "She and Ellie found me in the bathroom, upset. They saw you knock me down outside, and assumed that was the problem. Believe me, I tried to stop her! What happened at the club tonight was the last thing I wanted!"

"You were upset? Over what? You and I both know that was an accident." He left where he was standing, and sat down on the sofa on the far end across from her. Kira instinctively tried to back away further, but there was no more room to retreat.

"That wasn't it, Na Na. Anyways, that part is unimportant. I-"

He interrupted her. "Tell me what was wrong then." He moved an inch or two closer in her direction.

"I don't have to tell you anything. Besides, I think you can probably figure it out for yourself." She glanced briefly his way before averting her eyes once again.

"No, you don't have to tell me. You're right, I think I _can_ figure it out." He paused for a moment. "I have to ask you something."

"What?" She looked back at him inquisitively.

"Do you ever think we will figure this whole thing out?"

"I honestly don't know." Fighting back tears at his last question, she closed her eyes as she let out a deep breath.

"I don't know either. But you're right – I shouldn't follow you the way I have been. You're doing a better job at this than I am. It's just that sometimes..." He paused, looking for words he could not find.

"Sometimes what?" She didn't know if she should let him continue further on this point, but nonetheless she could not help herself. She glanced at the studded leather strap on his left forearm, as well as the multi jeweled rings on his fingers, wanting nothing more than to take his arms and wrap them around her body.

"Sometimes I look at you, and I see everything that I am not." His overtly cocky expression had changed to something resembling sadness, filled with longing.

"Na, Na, please don't. I know where you're headed with this, and you have to know, no good can come from it." She was shaking, and she saw that he noticed this too, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"I know. I must ask you though. Do you remember what it was like to get a full night's rest?" Kira understood the emotions she saw on his face, and immediately knew what was going through his mind. She had never known such terror - or excitement, all rolled into one.

"Once upon a time, yes." She whispered so softly, he could hardly hear her. She knew if she had spoken any louder, her voice would crack once again.

He moved closer towards her on the sofa. By now, their fingers were touching, but this time, she did not pull away. In contrast, she reached out and grasped his hand with hers, holding on as tightly as her strength would let her. Her touch made him flinch at first, honestly shocked at this unexpected and sudden change in direction. Still he did not let go. He moved closer to her still, close enough now that he could feel her warm breathe on his neck.

Kira continued to look at him straight in the eye, unable to pull her gaze away from his intent stare. She swallowed hard, her spine painfully tense with anticipation, as well as fear. Their hands now clasped in one another, she felt herself move closer yet towards him, aligning her body perfectly with his without actually touching. Another moment passed, both of them unable to move, completely memorized by each other. "Na Na..." was all she could get out as she closed her eyes before their lips briefly met.

The kiss was short, and lasted only a small second before both of them pulled away, looking at each other with intense curiosity, as well as deep confusion. He leaned closer towards her yet again, putting his free hand on her shoulder and around her neck. Their noses were touching, and to both of their shock, Kira moved forward to kiss him again, this time with fevered passion, letting go of his other hand and wrapping her arms around his neck. He responded in turn, opening his mouth as his lips embraced her own.

Not in the entire millennium of his life had Na Na ever been touched in a way such as this, nor had he even had the desire for something as such until recently, but it didn't matter. As of this moment, none of it mattered. Her lips tasted as sweet as she smelled. He leaned back as she continued to draw him closer in, her kisses becoming harder and more impassioned, as she pulled herself on top of him.

The only thing Kira could think of at this very instance was of how good he felt in her arms, and how wonderful his mouth felt on hers. If any of the other issues at hand surrounding the two of them were to enter her mind, she knew somewhere deep in the bottom of her psyche she would finally go mad. The tormented confusion she had known just a few minutes earlier was long gone, replaced by an intoxicating enchantment. Blocking out all other thought and reasoning, she ran her hands over his tall, lanky body, ignoring the pain as the metal on his rings accidentally dug into her flesh.

As good as she felt to him, her touch felt oddly strange, for he was not used any type of affection, let alone passions such as these. He shivered as she wrapped her legs around his waist, running her lips up and down his neck. He in turn, did the same, closing his eyes, drinking in her scent, and running his long fingers over the svelte shape of her body.

As the two natural enemies entwined themselves further in each other's arms, an unexpected sudden sense of relaxation and stillness swept over both of them. Neither had realized how truly exhausted they were from the ordeal of fighting back these bizarre and unruly emotions that had plagued them for months. Had this not been the case, perhaps they would have made love right there on Kira's sofa. As it stood now however, neither of them had been able to get a decent night's sleep in what had turned into months. Her breath became slower and deeper as the euphoria she was now involved in was replaced with a heavy sedation. Listening to her steady and rhythmic breathing as she continued to shower him with her affection, he felt a tremendous sense of tranquility, one he probably had never known in all of his existence. Moving themselves off of the couch and onto the floor below, still interwoven in each others' embrace, Na Na was able to run his fingers through her hair one last time before the two of them finally fell asleep in one another's arms, listening the slow steady beat of each other's hearts.

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Io Jovi arrived back to her apartment on the twenty-first floor shortly after the club had closed. She had offered to walk Kira back to her room before heading upstairs to her own dwellings, after hearing through the grapevine what had happened between her friend and that awful Skeksis. Kira had actually turned her down, telling her she was fine, it was only a short walk, and that everything would be okay. Whatever the case, she seemed to be a strong girl, more than able to take care of her own, Io reckoned. Considering the horrors she had survived back on her home world, she was sure her friend would be fine.

Living on the second to the top floor of the Random House, Io lived among the Greek gods and goddesses. Often confused with her counterpart, Io Lycos, the one-time unfortunate mistress of Zeus - king of the gods, she was actually a human personification of Io, the fiery volcanic moon of Jupiter. Like the inner most moon of Jupiter, also known as one of the four Galilean satellites, Io had a quick temper, sharp tongue, and was never afraid to say what was on her mind, whether it was appropriate to do so or not.

Io wiped that night's sweat off of her face, and pulled back her long, orange-blonde hair back into a ponytail. She then looked at her caller id on her cell phone. _Three_ calls from that schmuck Andre Linoge. As a friend, he was amusing to her, to say the least, but any serious relationship with him was absolutely out of the question. After all, who wanted to be with a man who could constantly read your mind, or know what you've done all waking hours of the day? Not to mention, she had just recently ended a rather serious relationship with Boba Fett, one of the most notorious bounty hunters in all of this existence. She could not be bothered with that sort of thing at the moment. Deciding to return his call in the morning, she headed for bed, always unafraid of what the morning may bring.

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Four hours had passed, and it was now 7:00am. The sun was beginning to shine through the blinds and into Kira's living room, blazing into her eyes and forcing her awake. Her head lying on Na Na's chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her, still in the fog of sleep, she had forgotten where she was for one minor instance. She lifted her head to look around and get her bearings. Taking one look at the Skeksis sleeping peacefully beneath her, she audibly gasped in a breath of air and shivered, waking him in the process.

The two just looked at each other for another moment, attempting to comprehend what had just occurred only a few hours before hand. Na Na smiled as he laid eyes on her. It was a smile she consciously did not recall ever seeing on any one of his kind.

"Did we fall asleep?" He whispered softly in her ear.

"Yeah, I guess we did." She had the anxious look of worry written all over her face, but did not move from his arms, nor did she break her gaze from his.

Not knowing what else to say to her, he shifted his body around on the hard floor, futilely attempting to find a comfortable position. The room was so quiet a pin drop could have been heard. A couple of minutes passed before he spoke again.

"Kira?"

"Yes?" She whispered back to him.

"Do you have a blanket or a pillow? This floor is beginning to hurt."

"I believe so, yes. Let me check." She wasn't sure if she were to get up off of the floor, she would be able to find the courage to lay back down with him, but she had to agree, her thinly carpeted cold floor was not exactly the nicest thing to lie on. Managing to break their embrace, she got up and opened her closet door, pulled out two soft pillows, as well as the largest, thickest blanket she could find. Almost in a trance, she laid the pillows next to each other, wrapping them both together inside the blanket, gently sighing as she once again felt the warmth of his body.

They laid there a couple of minutes more, completely still and quiet, with their arms woven around each other. Without warning, stark realization hit her suddenly of what she was doing. Pulling back for a moment, she searched for an answer in his eyes, all too aware of _who_, and _what_ he was. Trembling, she raised her hand to push him away, but just as quickly, he grabbed it, locking his fingers with hers. Pushing his body toward her, he once again began to spread kisses on her neck, slowly making his way up toward her mouth, where he pressed his lips down hard, massaging her tongue with his. She moaned audibly, as she felt sweet relief flow through her entire being, washing away any invading thoughts of reality. She had fought this for so long; she could not be exactly sure just how long it had been. A voice inside of her attempted again to remind her of why she had been fighting, but at this moment, she could no longer listen.

All she could do was kiss him repeatedly, running her hands all up and down his body. Repositioning herself underneath the blanket, she wrapped her legs around his pelvis, grinding herself tightly into him, almost violently. She felt him respond to this, with nails down her back, running his hands all over the smooth skin underneath her clothes, then proceeding to stroke the insides of her thighs. She began to remove the outer layer of clothing that he wore, beginning with his dark cardigan sweater, when she felt his body immediately tense up.

She looked at him curiously. "Is everything okay?" she whispered, stopping for a moment, a bit surprised. She still knew in the back of her head what they were doing could spell disaster for both of them, but at this time, she could not bring herself to think about that.

He looked at her momentarily, taking in her beauty. She never looked more ravishing to him than at this very instance. However, the truth was, like any Skeksis, clothing was of the utmost importance, and he felt especially vulnerable without it.

He leaned forward and kissed her briefly on the lips. "I'm just not used to this," he replied, as he continued to stroke her thigh with one hand, and her right breast with the other.

"That makes two of us." In actuality, this was not Kira's first time, having been with Jen on more than one occasion, which now seemed to her to be another life time ago. However, right now, that memory was the furthest thing from her mind.

"I didn't say stop," he stated, in a highly authoritative tone. She regarded him for a second longer, before resuming what they had been previously engaged in. Undoing the buttons on her jeans, and then pressing himself firmly into her, she let out an audible moan. She felt his hands slide further down her back, finally pressing directly between her legs. Feeling the warm pleasure of his fingers inside of her, she breathed out a gasp of air; now completely helpless to end this madness they had now engaged in.

She was completely at the mercy of her emotions, filled with a deeply impassioned desire and lust, yet still conscious of an all too present hatred. She wanted to hurt him – hurt him as he had hurt her. All she was able to do, however, was to hold herself tighter against him, digging her finger nails firmly down into his skin as her teeth bit down rigidly on his neck. Reacting to this, it now mattered not where his clothing ended up. They undressed each other as quickly as they could, almost tearing at one another, this time not caring for modesty or constraint.

"We've both wanted this," he uttered to her, stroking her now naked body up and down, leaving no part untouched.

She only nodded to him, unable to speak as he slid himself inside. She closed her eyes, striving desperately to hold in a scream – a scream that would not only have alerted her neighbors, but which also stemmed from the tormented mixture of love and hate, slight pain and unspeakable pleasure. With Na Na directly over top of her, she put her hand directly over his mouth, preventing him from the possibility of doing the same, seconds before kissing him impassionedly once again. The searing confusion was now completely drained from her mind, replaced only with thoughts of exhilaration and unrivaled ecstasy.

Tangled up within each other underneath the warmth of the thick cotton blanket on her living room floor, the two of them could no longer suppress what had been held in for so long. They made love, hard and impassioned, fevered and furious, that early Sunday morning in the silence of her apartment.


	11. Chapter 11: The Morning After

**Chapter 11: The Morning After**

As I lay here with you  
The shame lies with us  
We talk of love and trust  
That doesn't matter

Though we may be the last in the world  
We feel like pioneers  
Telling hopes and fears  
To one another

And oh what a feeling  
Inside of me  
It might last for an hour  
Wounds aren't healing  
Inside of me  
Though it feels good now  
I know it's only for now

The feeling is intense  
You grip me with your eyes  
And then I realise  
It doesn't matter

-Depeche Mode

Kira and Na Na lay on the floor of her apartment, naked and wrapped in each other's arms, their eyes both wide open, attempting to catch their breath. She looked at him with intense emotion, as hate and fear, lust and love shown in her eyes. A few moments past as he held her head to his chest, and then looked at her again. The shock of the realization of what had just happened between him and what should have been his natural enemy suddenly sank in.

"What do we do?" He whispered to her, resting his forehead on hers. His voice was shaking from a mixture of physical exhaustion and agonizing uncertainty.

"I don't know," she replied, pulling her face closer to his, so their noses were touching. The pitch in her voice echoed his anxiety. Though it felt almost too hot under the thick blanket against the warmth of his body, she could not stop shivering. Lying there together another five minutes, unable to move from each other's embrace, Kira finally made an observation.

"We're in quite a mess, aren't we," she remarked.

"Yes, I believe we are." He shifted his position, as she buried her head into the curve between his shoulder and neck. Lying on his back, he stared straight up at the ceiling tiles, attempting to comprehend what had just occurred. Another ten minutes passed. They just lied there silently, not wanting to face the daylight where the reality of who they were would finally set back into place.

"Kira, I have to go. I will be missed if I'm not around."

"I understand." As much as she did not want to face the real world at this moment, she was fully aware this was coming.

He sat up, breaking their grasp on each other. In silence, he redressed himself, taking great care as he put back on his clothing, layer by layer, as well as his jewelry. Kira decided to do the same. She stood up from the make shift bed they had made on the floor, and led him to the side door of her apartment which he had not taken notice of until now.

"I didn't see that you had another door."

"Yes, all the corner units have them. It enters into the side hallway, across from the stairwell. Most people don't even know it's there. It will be safer this way. I'll take a peek out first, to make sure no one is outside." She opened the door, looked around the corner, and to her relief, the hallway was empty.

She motioned for him to come forward, coming back inside before he made his exit. As he made his way for her door, Na Na took her in his arms and placed his lips directly on hers. After about thirty seconds of unending, swirling emotion and jumbled thoughts, she finally broke the kiss. "You'd better go."

"Yes, I'd better go."

He entered out into the hallway, and she closed the door behind him. Leaning her back on the door, she inhaled a breath of air, and let out a huge sigh. Covering her mouth, she let out a small, almost inaudible breathless cry, as the awareness of what she had done finally came home. No clear or logical reason could ever explain what had happened on this night. She had just made love with her worst enemy, and she had not even a hint of suggestion of what to do next.

Io Jovi awoke late that morning from a rare deep and restful sleep. She got out of bed, and jumped in the shower, remembering the agreement she had made with herself the night before to return Andre's call. Ah yes, Andre Linoge. Living a couple of floors below her, she had met him a few months prior at the local café, while she was with her friend Sydney.

Supposedly, as she had heard through the rumor mill, he had done unspeakable things to the folks of a community off of the coast of Maine called Little Tall Island, all in the hopes of gaining a child of his own. He had the ability to look into the soul of a person, instantly knowing every horrible misdeed or transgression that individual had ever committed. Yes, it was well known that Andre Linoge knew all the dirty little secrets of the Random House, without ever hearing them out loud from anybody.

Calling up to his room on the fifth floor, he picked up the telephone in the middle of the first ring.

"Hello Io," he answered, before she even got a chance to speak.

"Hello Andre. You know it creeps me the hell out when you do that."

"Caller ID. Don't you know everybody has it nowadays?" He replied, overtly inflecting his voice in that condescending tone that he would use when trying to make a point.

"Whatever. I'm just returning your phone call. But I'm sure you already know that," she responded, rolling her eyes.

"Perhaps. But that doesn't matter. I was calling to ask if you would like to go out for a drink at Tambourines tonight."

"I have told you already, Andre. I do not date demon spawn. If you want to go out as friends, that's fine. But that's it."

"Whatever gave you the impression that I was from the nether regions of the world? I'm only asking you to donate your company tonight. I'll gladly accept your friendship, if that's what you have to offer."

Io rolled her eyes once more. He always had this cockamamie way of taking something she said, and turning it to his benefit. "Whatever, you can spin your background however you like, if it makes you feel better about yourself. I'll meet you out there, at say, seven o'clock. I've got nothing better to do tonight."

"Glad to hear it, Io. See you then."

They both hung up the phone. The truth was, she was interested in him, if only because of the challenge he presented to her. Yes, it was true, there was no man quite like Andre Linoge in all the Random House. She would have no better joy than putting a man such as that in his place, while having a hell of a time doing so. Most of her friends thought she should be committed to a mental institution for even giving him the time of day, but Io, the spitfire of a girl that she was, definitely was not most of her friends.

The second floor communal room always seemed to be fuller on Sunday nights, with everyone attempting to wind down from the weekend, engaging in whatever conversation was available. This evening was no different. Vera and Marty stood in the center of communal room's large kitchen area, sharing their knowledge of all the latest news and gossip.

"So Vera, what exactly happened last night? I saw some shit go down between you and Na Na. What was that all about?" Marty inquired of her friend, always wanting to get in on the latest chitchat.

"Oh yeah, that. I caught him picking on poor Kira. I saw him push her down by the bathrooms. I just thought I would let him know there are bigger people than him that reside here. You know the Skeksis. They always think they're top of the food chain wherever they go. I love reminding them that they are not."

Marty laughed out loud. "Oh Vera, always trying to start something. Well, if you were looking for a fight, Na Na is usually the right place to start. Well, either him or SkekUng, usually. They're two peas in a pod."

"I'll drink to that," Vera replied, opening up the refrigerator and pulling out a beer. She turned, and looked Na Na, who happened to be accompanied by Ung, straight in the eye as he entered the room.

"And look who we have here now! Good evening, Na Na! You're looking particularly bright and chipper tonight." The truth was, he did look much more well-rested than usual, as well as having gained a sparkle in his eye that was never there before. Vera, as witty and observant as she was, instantly picked up on this.

"Sure, in spite of present company. Isn't there some squirrel you should be chasing out in the park, Vera? "

Tapping her meticulously painted toenail on the linoleum, the human velociraptor smiled broadly, exposing all of her pearly white teeth. "Now why would I want to do that when there's far better entertainment here? You're not still sore about what happened at the club last night over that gelfling, are you?"

Kira's name was instantly brought back to Na Na's mind at the mention of this. Not that it had ever left his thoughts, really, but at this instance, the memory of her scent seemed to hit him like a cyclone. Despite these new and strange feelings, however, he was fully aware of the ramifications if their little secret ever got out. Putting the best facade he could come with, he grinned widely back at Vera, in the most condescending way he knew how.

"Oh, you're talking about that little misunderstanding you and I had last night over something that didn't pertain to you. Yes, I remember," he replied, glancing towards Ung out of the corner of his eye. He could only hope that the former Garthim Master had not seen the shift in his demeanor at the sheer mention of Kira.

"She's talking about that stupid little kelffink you beat down at the club last night, isn't she," Ung chimed in, using the Skek term for gelfling. Although all of the skeksis had fluently learned English since arriving here, they still had a habit of throwing in words from their native tongue here and there. "She got exactly what she deserved. Her mere existence is an insult to all of us!"

Na Na looked down towards the floor, staring at the multiple straps attached to his black leather boots. He could not bring himself to look at his comrade at the moment. Although Ung had absolutely no reason or cause for suspicion, to Na Na, it felt as if all eyes were on him.

"So exactly why are you suddenly her lord and protector, Vera?" The former slave master suddenly inquired, looking back up at her, attempting to sound as genuine as possible. "Maybe you should reconsider who you decide to defend." Masking his true feelings was not exactly pleasant, but it also wasn't difficult either. Like any Skeksis, lying and deceit were second nature, and Na Na had plenty of previous experience.

"Who I decide to defend is my business. I answer to no one, especially you. Now if you'll excuse me, my favorite show is coming on." Vera turned and sat down on the sofa in front of the television. The opening credits for Survivor began to roll.

Half grinning, Marty looked at the two Skeksis, and shrugged her shoulders. "Don't look at me! You know I don't have any input on what goes on in her head."

The three of them followed Vera into the living area. Yes, they all had to admit it. Survivor was indeed a damn good show.

Striving to focus on the program in front of him, Na Na's thoughts of course were anywhere but where they should have been. He looked at Vera out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling almost ferociously, enwrapped in the drama of what she was watching. As much as he tried to help himself, he was actually appreciative of her presence here. Of course, he couldn't be sure exactly what her motives were for wanting to protect and defend Kira last night, or now for that matter. All in all, it was probably just another excuse to pick a fight. Nonetheless, he was thankful she had someone like Vera to stick by her, while he could publicly not.

Shortly after Na Na had made his exit from her apartment, Kira had gone back to bed. She knew she had to go to work later that day, as her boss had a couple of small assignments for her. She could only hope she would have just a fraction of the focus needed to complete the tasks assigned to her. It was clear that would not come to her on only four hours of sleep, not counting what else was on her mind.

She awoke later that afternoon, 3 hours longer than she had anticipating sleeping. For the first time in how many months she could not count, she awoke refreshed and rejuvenated, actually feeling alive once again. As much as logic told her she should have been a complete wreck this morning after what had just occurred, the feeling that washed over her was a dazed euphoria.

Looking at the clock, however, she gasped in shock. She should have been at work an hour ago! She briefly jumped in the shower, washing off the club's smoke and sweat, as well as Na Na's forbidden touch. She threw on something decent to wear, and ran out the door, sifting through the confused and disordered melee of her thoughts. At this moment, thinking of a good excuse as why she was late was indeed the least of her problems.


	12. Chapter 12: Choices

**Chapter 12: Choices**

It was Wednesday afternoon, and Kira accompanied her next-door neighbor Marty Rex, along with her brother Tyler, in the communal room kitchen. As much as it pained her, she had succeeded in not catching sight of the Skeksis former slave-master since he had left her apartment early Sunday morning, after their one illicit encounter. Although the unrelenting urge nagged at her like an itch she could not scratch, she would not call him. No, she could not know if the overwhelming yearning to lay eyes on each other was as strong with him as it was with her, but she was aware of one thing. Nothing constructive could come from continuing on the path they had been following.

"Hey Kira, can you help me with these dishes? There's only a few here," the human tyrannosaurus called out, abruptly waking the gelfling from her daydream.

"Sure. It should only take us a couple of minutes," she agreed. Any activity was better than sitting around, once again sifting through senseless emotions, which had no rhyme or reason.

"Hehe," Marty chuckled. "You look like you're in deep thought about something. Anything in particular?"

Kira promptly turned her face away. "Um, no not really. Just trying to figure out what I've got planned for the weekend." The lies were getting easier day-by-day.

The two of them proceeded to clean up after their midday lunch they had made for themselves. Tyler sat on the couch, watching the latest episode of the Sopranos.

"Hey, lazy sack of shit! Yeah you, sitting there on your ass. Want to come up help us?" Marty called out to her brother.

"What? You know I like to rest up after a good meal! That was great prime rib by the way. Who hunted that down, anyways? That was awesome!"

"No one hunted it down, Tyler." Kira chimed in, as she emptied the dishwasher. "Here they have something called farms. The animal is raised solely for its meat from the time it's born."

"Bah, where's the fun in that?" he quipped. "As that guy on the television who calls himself Ted Nugent would say, "You can't grill it unless you kill it. Or something to that effect."

Marty laughed out loud. "Yeah, I know that's how they do it nowadays. Makes things easier I know, but damn I miss a good chase."

Kira smiled nervously. She had to admit to herself she was definitely glad food was provided; regardless of the fact that she was a vegetarian.

The two of them continued to clean up the kitchen while Tyler entertained himself in the living room. A few minutes passed as they made small talk, finishing up the last of the dirty dishes. Always wanting to make a grand entrance wherever he embarked, SkekUng entered the room, immediately announcing his presence.

"Well something sure smells good in here! What is it we're cooking today?" The former garthim-master and one-time Skeksis emperor proclaimed in his overtly large, booming voice. Kira immediately felt her shoulders tense up at the sight of him.

"Actually we just got done eating, Ung. Sorry we missed you." Marty answered back, looking towards the gelfling. She could see her friend was visible uncomfortable with his presence.

"I'll let it slide this time," the Skeksis replied, half chuckling. "Actually there's a reason I'm in here. I'm passing out flyers for the upcoming election. You see, I'm running for President of Internal Affairs on the Random House board. I'd love it if you all would vote for me."

All three of them at once made the quick realization why Ung seemed to be in such a good mood today. It was simple. He wanted something.

"Anyways, if elected, I can assure you I will get us better facilities, including a bigger in-ground swimming pool, better parking and more amenities to each communal room."

The gelfing could not help but roll her eyes, as she shook her head. She honestly did not care if he noticed it or not. Making his usual arrogant strut across the room, Ung proceeded to hand the three of them flyers, including Kira. As he walked towards her, she held her hands behind her back, refusing to take one.

"Wow. You really think I would you vote for you," she managed to spit out in a cold, almost caustic tone.

"Of course! Didn't I just tell you I would get us far better amenities than the ones we have now? Look at the carpet in here. It hasn't been replaced in almost 3 years!" Ung, as wrapped up within himself as was his nature, had a single-minded focus here. After all, it mattered not who voted for him. Not even a gelfling.

"Sure, I see. You know what?" She asked, using a soft, quiet tone better suited for conversing with a child, rather than one's worst adversary.

"What's that, my dear?" Ung replied, regarding her with a fake, twisted smile.

"You have a lot of fucking nerve, that's what."

The skeksis took a step back. "How dare you, you little shit kelffink! How dare you speak to me that way!"

"You have to be joking. I mean, after knowing about you what I know and what you've done, you honestly think I _want_ you elected? Come on. Think for once." Kira gave him a frosty stare, straight in the eye, not so much as flinching.

Marty and Tyler looked at each other with a nervous grin and began to snicker under their breath. Observing this, Ung picked up his flyers, and stormed out of the room, with the feeling of complete humiliation falling upon him. "You'll get yours you little beast!" He could be heard calling back to her, already half way down the hall.

Marty and Tyler couldn't help it. Simultaneously they both let out an uproariously laughter. This could still be heard by the garthim-master, already on his way to his next destination.

"That was awesome, Kira!" Marty exclaimed, walking toward her to give her a high-five.

"You go, little muppet!" Tyler called out to her, smiling widely.

"Muppet?" Kira looked at him, curiously. That was a new word she had not yet heard.

"Never mind. I've just never heard you tell one of them off like that before, that's all."

"Yeah well, I'm sure I'll pay for that later, but he had that coming. I mean, he's out of his mind!" Kira shook her head once more, letting out a frustrated sigh.

The three of them chewed on this thought a bit more, making small talk here and there, while going about their usual business. A couple of minutes had passed when SkekSil, the former castle chamberlain, entered the room.

"Hey everybody," Sil said, wearing his usual sly, sinister grin. "I just wanted to let you all know that I am running for President of Internal Affairs, and am asking for your votes."

Marty covered her mouth and put her face into a dishrag, attempting stop herself from cracking up. Kira just stood there, stone faced, looking at Sil in astonishment. Noticing Marty's self-contained cackling, the former castle chamberlain looked at her with a curious glare.

"What?" He inquired harshly.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Hope you win, Sil. Good luck!" She couldn't help it. She let loose all the laughter she was struggling to contain. Tyler joined in. Sil's smile lessened greatly, and his eyes narrowed.

"What's their problem?" he inquired, directly looking at Kira.

"You're really asking me?" She asked, doing nothing to hide the contempt within her voice.

Marty stopped momentarily, catching her breath. "You're running against Ung, correct? Oh man, that's good!"

It was true, in another time, back on Thra at the Crystal Castle, Ung and Sil were once members of rival factions within their clan. Competing for the throne directly after the first emperor had succumbed to illness, Sil, had come out the loser in the match. Suffering complete humiliation, he was banished from the castle, being forced to fend for himself. Here, with their rivalry just as fierce as it once was, they were now competing for the lead position on the Random House board of elections. Of course, Marty and Tyler could not find this bit of entertainment more amusing.

Sil's expression became an icy glare. "Like that bastard even stands a chance against me. He'll get his. It's payback time for that slime face, and it's coming in full."

Tyler chirped in. "That's right kids, it's time for _Trial by Stone_! Grab your swords everybody!" They both once again let out a burst of laughter. Kira looked around, pretending not to be amused.

"Make fun all you want, you putrid lizards. You'll see who's laughing now when I am Empo- uh…I mean, president."

"Okay Sil. I think you forget who you're talking to here. Look at me. I'm shaking in my boots," Marty quickly shot back.

"Whatever. If you know what's good for you, you'll remember to vote for me on May 18th. Anybody who votes for that shit faced opponent of mine who calls himself SkekUng deserves what they get." Sil picked up his things and quietly left the room, letting out a slight whimper as he exited the doorway. Tyler stretched out fully on the couch, continuing to watch the program in which he was so engrossed.

"Good lord, please let those not be the only two choices!" Kira exclaimed, waiting until Sil had gone.

"Oh man, we are so screwed if they are," Marty agreed with nervous laughter.

They both continued what they were doing, finishing up the last minute kitchen chores. Kira was down on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, washing up some juice that had spilled behind the trash can, when she heard someone else enter the room. Not turning to see who it was, she overheard Marty acknowledge their arrival.

"Oh don't tell me. You're not running too, are you?" Marty exclaimed.

"Um, running from what? I don't see that I'm being chased by anything at the moment."

Kira froze in the spot where she was on the floor. She knew that voice.

Marty giggled in response. "Apparently there's an election going on for President of Internal Combustion, or whatever the fuck you call it. Sil and Ung were both in here separately, passing out flyers for their campaign. I was afraid you were in here doing the same thing."

From behind the counter, Kira stood up from the position of where she sat on the floor, turned her head, and looked Na Na straight in the eye.

Momentarily gasping, the Skeksis paused, completely losing his train of thought.

"Na Na? Hello? You're not running for that campaign, are you?" Marty regarded him curiously, trying to understand why he seemed so flustered.

"Oh, yes? Oh that. No." He quickly averted his eyes from Kira's nervous, shaky gaze. "I'm sorry, who did you say was running?"

"Sil and Ung. Apparently they're running against each other in the Random House latest election. Is it just me, or do you find that absolutely hysterical?"

Na Na barely heard what Marty had said, although he made his best attempt to pretend he did. "Yeah, I suppose that is pretty funny. Actually I had come in here looking for Ung. You said he was in here earlier. Can you tell me where he went to?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask Kira that. She's the one who chased him away!" Marty chuckled, looking towards her friend.

Kira immediately shifted her eyes to the floor, refusing to look towards the one who had caused her so much misery, along with so much delight. She spoke so softly, that her voice was barely audible. "He headed back down the hall. After that, who knows."

Abruptly realizing he needed to maintain appearances for both of their sakes, Na Na found what he thought to be glare of hostility to send her way, at least the best one he could muster. Kira, with her gaze still pointed towards the floor, did not even notice.

"Well, I'll go and find him. Thanks for the info, or rather, lack there of." He had to leave quickly. He knew the longer he stayed, the worse off things could be for the both of them. As he made his exit, Kira exhaled out a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" Marty asked her friend inquisitively. The color had very visibly drained from her face.

"I'm fine, Marty. Why do you ask?" She answered, continuing to get back down and scrub the floor. She would not look her in the face. No, it wasn't that she wouldn't. She absolutely couldn't.

"You look positively shaken, that's what! Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"I told you, I'm fine. I guess, out of all the Skeksis, I like that one least of all." She had to find something to come up with, even if it wasn't the truth.

"Yeah, the slave master certainly has that effect on people. You know, the stories I've heard about him would make you want to cry."

Kira, being in the tormented state of mind that she was in, already did want to do just that.

Later that evening, the gelfling sat in her tub, trying to focus on the warmth of the bath water, and block out all other thought. Finding this was impossible, she was futilely attempted to reconcile the strange and unrecognizable feelings she had almost come to accept with the logic that told her this could never be. Once again coming to no resolute conclusion, she exited the tub, dried herself off, and lay down on the bed. She closed her eyes, as the memory of his smell and his touch came to the forefront of her mind. Just as she was about to briefly doze off, her phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered. She didn't know how or why, but somehow she already knew who it was.

"Hello," said the voice on the other end. Her intuition had not failed her.

"Na Na. How did I know that was you." She said this more as a statement, rather than a question.

"I'm not sure. To tell you the truth, I really don't know anything anymore." She could hear the cold frustration ringing from his voice.

"Is everything alright? You sound distraught."

"No, everything's fine here. As fine as it can be, I guess." He paused slightly. "I don't know how to say this, Kira. I need to see you."

Kira closed her eyes and let out a heavy exhale. This is what she was hoping for, and what she was dreading.

"Any particular reason?"

"Honestly? No, there's no reason. I just need to see you, that's all."

"Na Na,"

He interrupted. "I know. You don't have to say it. I already know. I just don't know what else to do."

"Neither do I." There was a two minute pause, neither of them knowing what else to say to each other, just listening to each other's breathing on the other end of the phone. Finally, Na Na broke the silence.

"Can you meet me at the diner?"

There was a brief pause. Kira let out a heavy sigh, and she finally spoke. "God, I shouldn't do this." Her voice was shaking. "Give me one hour. Will that work?"

"That will be fine. See you then." They both hung up the phone.

Arriving just minutes shortly after Na Na, Kira walked through the doors of the establishment to find him seated in the corner booth, farthest from view of the other patrons. Making direct eye contact, she sat down across from him, striving to maintain the guise of a confident demeanor. It was all she could do to not wrap her arms around him right then and there.

"Hey."

"Hey," he replied back.

The only thought they both had on the long drive to the diner was of each other. In spite of this, neither one knew what to say now that they were in each other's presence.

"This is crazy, Na Na."

"I know."

"It doesn't make any sense."

"I agree." Short pause. "So…did I hear Marty right in the communal room earlier?"

"Which part?"

"Sil and Ung. Are they really running against each other in the upcoming election?"

"It appears that way. Why? Is this why you wanted to meet me?"

"No, of course not. I just find it funny, that's all. Those two are fire and ice. Some other time I might explain more on the subject. It's a long story."

Kira nodded. "That's very interesting. I haven't really been following the election though. I've had other stuff on my mind, as I'm sure you're well aware. Do you know if there are other candidates running? Please tell me there are."

"I don't know. I haven't really been following it either. I have had other things on my mind as well." He looked at her directly, almost as if he was looking at her soul itself. She immediately shifted her eyes away from him.

"Why are we here, Na Na?"

"We've been over this what could be a hundred times. Each time we come up with the same thing. I almost think there is no answer. At least none that we can find."

"What if we never find it?" She asked, not being able to erase the look of anxiety off of her face.

"I asked you that the other night, remember? Then look what happened." He had a smirk of what almost looked like triumph across his face. He couldn't help it; self- glorification was in his nature. He had gotten something he wanted, forbidden or not.

Kira felt herself blush. A couple of more moments passed, then Na Na spoke again. "Like I said on the telephone, I really don't know how else to say this. It's just that night when I was with you, I felt different. I almost felt…_whole_."

"Whole? As in, complete?" This was indeed astonishing. Having lived in the Random House for quite some time now, she was fully aware of his past, and what the Skeksis actually were. Back on Thra, before the last triple solar alignment also known as the Great Conjunction, brilliant beings known as the UrSkeks ruled in splendor, as well as peace and tranquility. However, attempting to gain further power out of the great Crystal, it cracked, resulting in the UrSkeks being split in two. The creatures, which were known as the urRu, or mystics as they were sometimes called, came from the gentle, kind nature, as well the supreme wisdom of the UrSkeks. The Skeksis on the other hand, came from the much darker, more sinister side. The side that above all else lusted for power and domination. Each race was one half of a part that was once complete. For someone such as Na Na to make a statement like this was indeed remarkable.

"Yeah, I guess that's accurate. I don't think I ever recall that feeling. Not ever."

The waiter came and took their orders. Once he had left, Na Na began again. "I do know one thing, Kira. We cannot keep doing this. We need to make a decision. We either see each other fully, or not see each other at all."

"See each other fully, as in having an actual relationship? You really believe after all that after knowing who we both are that's a viable option. Are you out of your mind?" Kira exclaimed in response.

"And you, gelfling, are the perfect picture of sanity. After all, that's why you agreed to meet someone such as myself here, correct?" he responded back, his voice full of contempt. "Tell me, Kira. How easy do you think the second option would be for either of us? Would it be a walk in the park, or do you actually enjoy going without sleep?"

She had no response. Na Na continued. "I'm saying living in this in-between state of mind is doing neither of us any good. We need to make a decision. Here. Tonight. We either agree not to see each other again, other than what is necessary considering our living arrangements, _or_ we see where this takes us. I claim not to know where that would be, but I do know that I myself cannot go on the way things stand now. I just can't do it."

Kira looked down at the table and let out a heavy sigh. Contrary to what she wanted to tell herself, she could only admit that he was right. They could not continue in limbo, having no direction on where they were going. A decision had to be made, and it had to be made now.

"Na Na. For arguments sake, let's imagine a pretend world where I have nothing to fear from you, and you personally have never caused me any harm, whatsoever. You yourself have told me what the other members of your clan might do to not only myself, but to you if they find out. Are you actually willing to risk that? For someone such as me?"

He regarded her intently, softening his tone. "You are all I think about. I wish that weren't true, as I know you do too, but that's the way it is. I wish you didn't fear me the way you do. I would never harm you, Kira. I know you don't believe that, and have no reason to. Still, it's the truth."

She shifted her eyes away, trying to understand the whole thing, a seemingly impossible task. She _wanted_ so badly to believe him. Was it actually possible this 'thing' that had overtaken them both could actually change him? She didn't know. She did know that while the first option that he had presented to her sounded downright preposterous, she had already been through the second option. The only way she could describe it was excruciating.

"Everything tells me I should run while I'm still capable. I must agree though, you are right. We can't keep doing this to ourselves. I only see two options, Na Na." It took all the energy she had left in her to keep her voice from shaking.

"Two options, yes." He looked at her intently, wondering what she was going to say next.

"We live in misery, or we live in fear. Those are our choices." The quiet sound of desperate sorrow could be heard within her voice.

"Misery or fear. Misery, for if we were to never see each other, and fear from my other clan members if they were to ever find out."

"Yes." As she looked at him intensely, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. It was all so simple, yet so complicated.

"So tell me your choice then, Kira." He caressed her face, wiping the tears away. She did not back away from his touch.

"My choice. Right now? This instance?"

"Yes."

She stumbled on words, looking for what to say. She looked at him impassionedly, attempting to understand the burning desire she felt for him. The actual idea of being with him was nearly all consuming. Her mind was brought back to that previous Sunday morning, when all of her hunger, longing, and fears were finally realized.

"Why are you putting this all on me? This choice? I want to know yours."

"No, Kira. I cannot do that. This decision is yours, and yours alone. I _owe_ you this."

"Owe me?" She leaned closer to him, trying to figure out where this was going.

"Yes, I owe you. I owe you something I can _never_ repay. This here is at least something I can give you. It's not much, but it's a start."

She understood immediately what he meant. As much as she wanted to believe this was just another example of Skeksis deceit, the mournful expression in his eyes told her he was sincere. It took all of her will to resist the urge to cry.

Seeing the expression on her face, and realizing she was choked up to the point she could not speak, he continued. "Whatever you decide, I will honor. You have my word. If you tell me that we cannot see each other again, I will make myself as scarce to you as what is possible. I will not call you, and I will not follow you. Things will be as they always were." He paused, looking for further words, his green eyes peering into her brown ones. "But if you pick the other choice. Then by all means, I would honor that as well."

She no longer had to ask him. She knew by the way his eyes devoured her, what his choice would be had he been the one to make it.

"Misery, or fear," she finally responded, almost in a whisper, one teardrop finally falling down her face. Looking at him, she understood his sincerity. She could not fathom how it could come from someone such as himself, but it was there nonetheless. "Secrets get out, Na Na. They always do, no matter how hard you try to contain them."

"And I'm good at keeping them as well. Ask any of the other Skeksis, it's a well known fact."

"I'll take your word for it." She smiled through her tears, if ever so slightly.

"Your choice, then. Please, Kira. You must."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She always considered herself a good judge of character, but this was a situation unlike any other she had ever faced. There was no changing what he was, she knew that much, no matter how human he looked here. How could someone of his kind possibly give her the happiness and fulfillment she so desperately craved? Yet, taking just one glance at Na Na, how could she ever live without him?

"Why do I feel this way about you?" She asked, taking his hand in hers across the table. The tears began to flow, no matter how much she tried to hold them back.

"I'd ask myself the same question. There's no explanation for it, nor will I think there ever will be. I know you fear me, even still. Someday I hope that to be different. I would never do anything to hurt you again."

"I want so desperately to believe that, Na Na, I really do. I've explained to you before though, at this very place that we're at right now, that I don't think you could ever understand what I have been through. Those aren't just empty words with the sole purpose of bickering with you. They're the truth."

"Then make your decision and be done with it." His words came out with a rather caustic ring, as he shifted his eyes away from hers.

She squeezed his hand, their grasp still held tight with their fingers clasped. "Okay. I will make my choice." She paused. She already knew what her decision was. She just had to bring herself to say it out loud.

"Tell me." These words came out much softer than the last ones he had spoken.

"I choose…God, I must be crazy."

"Please, Kira."

"I choose you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Na Na immediately let out a breathless sigh, and she could visible watch his entire demeanor relax as sweet relief washed over him. "I don't know how, and I don't know why, and all logic tells me this is absolutely mad, but I choose you." The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she did not bother wiping them away.

Na Na looked at her in a state of awe. He smiled. It was the same smile she recalled seeing on his face that early Sunday morning she woke up in his arms, right before they made love.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She asked inquisitively, semi regaining her composure.

"I…I don't know what to say." He squeezed her hand tighter yet, almost to the point of pain, but she did so much as wince, much less let go. As emotional as she was at this moment, Kira found this rare display of vulnerability almost endearing.

At this point, the waiter brought them their food. Kira had always ordered light on the few outings she had been here with him, and this occasion was no different. They paused for a moment, smiling politely as the waiter handed them their plates and refilled their glasses. As soon as he had left, the two of them resumed their conversation where they had left off.

"As I told you before, I can keep secrets. No one will know of this." In the millennium of his lifetime, he could never recall feeling the elation that he felt at this moment. She was so beautiful, and now she was his, despite the odds that stood in their way.

"Yes Na Na, no one will know." She took a mouth full of lettuce and swallowed deliberately, not taking her eyes off his.

The two of them finished their meals and paid their bill. They walked out to their cars, parked directly next to one another. Before she opened the car door, they simultaneously took one another in each other's arms, and kissed right there in the parking lot, the middle of nowhere keeping them safe from outside eyes. They just stood there kissing, not ever wanting it to end. Their lips finally parted, and the two of them just stood there, held in each other's embrace.

"Do you remember the side entrance to my apartment? The one that you left through, this past Sunday?"

Na Na immediately knew where this was going. "Yes, I do."

"It's quiet through that way, hardly any one ever uses the stairs. Give my door two knocks. I'll know it's you."

He nodded, understanding her intentions. He kissed her once more, before they made their way back. Driving home, she replayed in her mind their conversation. Each time, she came up with the same conclusion – this was the only choice that was possible.


	13. Chapter 13: Acceptance and Regret

**Chapter 13: Acceptance and Regret**

Arriving just minutes before Na Na back at her room, Kira's heart was pounding in fast, steady thumps. She took in a deep breath, casually opening her refrigerator door, looking for anything that might calm her racing pulse. Not finding anything that was to her liking, she closed the door, and paced the room back and forth. Noticing the latest edition of Elle magazine lying on her coffee table, she picked it up and began to skim through the pages. Ten minutes had passed, and a little less than half way back to a quiet state of mind, she heard two loud thumps on the side door to her apartment. Leaping off the sofa and sprinting towards the door, she opened it. Without even saying hello, she grabbed Na Na by the wrist, and pulled him inside, nearly knocking them both off balance in the process.

"Sorry, I just didn't want anyone to see you, that's all."

"It's alright, I think I'll manage," he replied, trying to reclaim his stability. He could see the pangs of anxiety written all across her face.

"Um, do you want anything to drink?" She asked casually, trying to maintain a look of relaxed poise. Despite this facade she attempted to portray, Na Na was already well aware of her disquiet, although he pretended not to notice. Had he himself been in a collected state of mind, he would have found this display of hers almost amusing. That of course was not the case; in spite of the usual calm demeanor he always attempted to show.

"Sure. What do you have?"

"Soda, sweet tea, milk, Smirnoff Ice, rum and coke..."

"Those last two choices sound pretty good," he replied, smiling at her. "I'll that last option. You suggest you have something similar."

Kira paused, looking at him curiously, instantly questioning his motives. Was he attempting to get her drunk? She had considered asking him this, when it dawned on her by her actions how she must appear to him. With a small hint of laughter, she replied, "You're probably right. Look at me. I'm a complete mess."

"You're not a mess. Just thought a drink might help you relax a little, that's all. I know I could use one." He flashed her that uncertain smile she had become so familiar with.

She nodded, inhaling a deep breath. She went into the kitchen, and made two drinks each for the both of them, carefully making sure hers was not too strong. They both sat down on the sofa next one another, sipping their drinks in silence, eyeing each other peculiarly.

"God, this is fucked up." Kira finally announced, resting her elbows on her knees and briefly putting her head in her hands. She grinned at him with a sideways glance, a nervous giggle escaping from her breath.

"I know," Na Na replied, returning the smile. It was a rare thing to hear her curse.

Finishing his drink in a matter of two large gulps, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and put one in his mouth, but not yet lighting it. He held the pack out to Kira, offering her one as well. She simply shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks though."

"They're good for relieving stress. Are you sure you don't want one?"

Kira laughed again. "What would give you the impression I'm under stress?"

"Well, if you're not, then you must have a will of steel," Na Na replied, chuckling honestly.

She eyed the cigarette once more. "Alright. I'm sure at this point it's not going to cause any harm." She took one, and as Na Na lit the both of them, she inhaled deeply. She had to admit it did make her feel slightly better. Sighing deeply, she chirped, "I get it. You're trying to corrupt me now."

"Yeah, I suppose that's what I do best. I've never been good at much else."

Her smile instantly faded. Although she knew his last statement was in jest, it was also probably true. Noticing her change in demeanor, he responded again. "You're different from me, Kira." He paused, searching for the words he needed to continue.

Her grin instantly reappeared. "Really? Tell me something I don't already know."

His face returned her expression of amusement. "Well, that's the obvious part, yes. What I mean is what I said to you before. You're everything I not, and could never be. I don't know how else to describe it. Six months ago I couldn't stand the sight of you. Now you're the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes upon."

She looked at him intently, understanding the sincerity in his expression. "I don't think we'll ever understand it, Na Na. I would tell myself I don't want your phone call, and I don't want to see you. Then you show up out of nowhere as you always do, and I can't help but admit that's exactly _what_ I wanted." He smiled at her seductively, his eyes meeting with hers before running up and down the length of her body. Instantly understanding the thoughts that were running through his mind, her already racing heart pounded faster yet. Still, she wanted to continue this conversation, and was able to suppress the seemingly unrelenting urges dwelling inside of her, at least for the time being. "My life here has turned out so different than I could have imagined it. Never in a million years did I think we would end up this way. It wasn't supposed to be you."

"Who, then?" The words came out only as an automatic response. The answer, however, instantly dawned on him after he had asked the question.

"Never mind. I don't want to discuss that." Her expression became cold, as her thoughts turned to that of Jen. It was rare for Kira to even catch his presence lately, mainly due to her own avoidance rather than his. Still, she couldn't help but imagine the unbearable devastation he would suffer if he were to know whom she was with at this particular moment.

"Hit a nerve, did I?" Her silence on the subject only made him all the more curious.

"Please, Na Na. None of that matters."

"It was that other gelfling, wasn't it? The dark haired one - Jen is his name, I believe."

An icy look shadowed her face as her eyes narrowed. She did not know why he wanted to push this topic at the moment, but that's what was happening, nonetheless. "Why is this so important that we talk about this right now?"

"Why is it such a big deal that we can't? It's only a question, Kira." Of course any polite, courteous person at the sight of her discomfort would have dropped the topic. Being true to his nature however, ideas such as these always eluded him.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" she shouted, her eyes like daggers thrust squarely upon him. Abruptly realizing the harsh tone spilling from her mouth, her expression softened slightly. Na Na only nodded, waiting for her to continue, as Kira eyed him intuitively with an all-knowing look upon her face. "I get it now. You're jealous." He could see almost a hint of a smile, as much as she tried to hide it. Seeing he still had no reply, she continued. "Look Na Na, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about regarding that subject. It's been over between us for awhile now."

"I know, I don't mean to pry. But he is the only other of your kind, after all."

"Yes, he is, isn't he," she replied. A sad, mournful expression shadowed Kira's face, as she gave him a guarded look.

He closed his eyes briefly, and let out a heavy sigh, looking towards the floor. "What happened, then?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell," She acknowledged, letting out a deep breath. "I just don't feel comfortable discussing this with you. Then again, I don't feel comfortable discussing a lot of things with you. But today I made a choice. I guess that means I need to get past that – for both our sakes."

"Was it me?" Na Na asked, getting straight to the point.

She thought about this for a moment, attempting to come up with an answer. She honestly couldn't say, whether it be out loud or to herself. She scanned the past weeks and months in her head, trying to figure out exactly when it was she ended their relationship. "I broke it off with him before you even approached me that first time at the club. I think it had been probably two to three weeks prior to that."

"But I was in your head, wasn't I."

Kira blinked twice, looking at him with a mixture of passion and contempt. She considered this to be truly a selfish question. "Yes Na Na. You were in my head. But that wasn't the reason I did what I did. I suppose in a way it was, but not what you might think. Truth be told, I did not consider myself worthy. Jen deserved somebody who wanted to be with him. Not someone who had incomprehensibly fallen instead for her worst enemy. Not somebody who was on the brink of losing her very sanity."

"You did it for him, rather than yourself. Interesting."

"I did it for both of us. I could no longer pretend. I had not had feelings for him for a long time. Now that I think about it, I had felt this way probably long before any of _this _happened to you and me."

In the back of his mind, Na Na could not help but admit to himself this was exactly what he wanted to hear. Feeling satisfied with the conversation, he changed the subject. "Can I ask you something else, Kira?"

She looked at him with suspicion in her eyes, wondering quite possibly what inquisition was coming next. "Okay. What else do you want to know?"

"Why does it feel so good when I kiss you?" His eyes drank her in, surveying her up and down yet again; once more unable to deny any longer the strange yet wonderful emotions he had been feeling since they had left the restaurant. Understanding the desire that was written on his face, she felt her body turn to the equivalent of limp jello as she searched somewhere in her mind for the answer to his question.

"Na Na," she uttered, trying to find the strength scattered deep within her psyche to get the rest of her sentence out. "I think we've both come to the conclusion that we'll never have an answer to that." Their hands clasped together tightly as he pulled her across the sofa in his direction, finally coming to rest in each other's arms. They froze for a moment, regarding each other with what could almost be called bewilderment. Closing her eyes as he leaned forward, she drank in his kiss, firmly pressed against her lips. "God, I've wanted that," she whispered, as the kiss was finally broken.

"Me too," he responded, as he felt his chest pound harder. At this moment it was inconceivable how this all came to be, but it was here nonetheless. Nothing else mattered. He held her closer yet, massaging his hands up and down her back, pressing his lips against hers yet again.

"Na Na," she said, whispering his name once more. She felt her knees tremble.

"Yes?" he responded, before kissing her again heavily on the mouth.

"I want to try something with you. I'm not sure if it's even possible, but I want to try it nonetheless." She felt her own breathing becoming more labored as she drank in his kisses in between their conversation.

"What is it?" Still holding her in his arms, he paused, regarding her with great curiosity.

"I want to share my memories with you."

He wasn't quite sure she meant by this, but was interested, nevertheless. "How?"

"We have a word for it. It's called dream fasting. The podlings taught me how to do it when I was very young."

"Dream fasting?" The only experience he had ever had with podlings was when they were slaves at his command, drained of their life's vital essence. He had never heard the term before. Still, it did sound intriguing.

"Yes, it was generally used as an alternative form of communication. When words couldn't quite do the trick."

He nodded his head in agreement, and stroked her hair. "Alright, I will try it," he replied, trying to concentrate on what he was saying. Her breath on his neck was downright intoxicating.

"One more thing, Na Na."

"Okay."

"Like I said before, I'm not sure if this will work at all, but if it does, please remember, you don't have to show me anything you don't want to. Just close your eyes, and follow my lead."

She was not quite sure why she felt so compelled to share this with him. She was well aware that what they were about to attempt could potentially have permanent ramifications, probably for the worse. There was much about him and his past she knew she would not be able to bear to witness. Still, she had to try. She remembered the choice she had made, and it was everything, or nothing at all. She closed her eyes, and took his hand in hers.

At first she saw nothing but black behind the shells of her eyelids. Then slowly coming into focus, she saw a vision. It was a large, wine colored crystal, suspended in mid-air, floating high above rocky shaft, at the very bottom molten lava and fire. She immediately recognized what she was looking at, for she had seen it before with her own eyes. Surrounding the floating darkened Crystal in a circle, she saw not ten, but all eighteen Skeksis, all of them alive and still young with youth. Had she been only a by-stander watching this display, she may not have understood the reasoning behind this ritual. However, what she was actually seeing was Na Na's memory. It immediately came to her understanding what was happening. As the Greater Sun passed over the apex of the castle, the rays that it emitted downward through the Crystal would be reflecting onto the surrounding Skeksis, showering them with the life-giving substances needed to take them through the next thousand years.

His memory moved onto another. Although their bodies as well as their faces were far different than now at the multiple-story building in which they all shared, she distinctly recognized SkekSil the Chamberlain, whining to Na Na about something almost incomprehensible. Whimpering almost manically, it seemed he was complaining about someone sneaking a dead and decayed rodent in his food. Na Na turned his head toward SkekUng, who wore the wry smile of guilt, plastered plainly across his face.

Moving forward still, she saw a group of podlings, two of which she actually recognized, their eyes blank and their faces expressionless – as if someone had drained them of their very soul. They simply stared at Na Na, awaiting their next – the memory suddenly stopped abruptly. Clearly, this was one he did not want to show her.

The last memory she saw of his was here, in this land they now had come to call home. It was of his band - the one that had called themselves Skinny Puppy. They were on stage in front of countless fans at a venue she thought she recognized, and from what she could tell, this was something that gave him true enjoyment. Although the music was not something she thought she could ever get used to, it was obvious this was his passion.

Simultaneously while she was sharing his memory, he was also taking part in hers. The first one she showed him was also of this world, which they now lived. It was of the Reddings Festival downtown, the one that his band had played a year or two priors. She was with both Vera and Marty, watching his band strum out what sounded like the song they had written called Addiction. This was indeed a surreal experience. He was watching himself, recalling this moment from his own memory as well, but also as she saw him. He could poignantly sense her fear and intimidation, wanting to move to another part of the festival quickly before they noticed her in the crowd.

Her memory then regressed much further. He saw her as a young child, back on Thra, with an older female gelfling, one that he somehow knew was her real mother. She was teaching Kira how to climb trees, and get into small hidden places without being seen. It was instantly comprehendible that this was not merely a mom playing with her daughter. She was teaching her survival skills - ones that would serve to be quite useful later on.

Moving on, he saw Kira, still a young child, eating dinner with both of her parents, both alive and well. He saw that she had an older brother, the one who called her _fallili_, which in her native tongue meant 'little flower.' They would play by the water at night, until their mother would call them in, fearful of what might be lurking in the dark. With that, came a darker vision. Out of the night fog, came a black monster - one that Na Na clearly recognized. It was one of the garthim, the large, insect-like mechanical soldiers built by the Skeksis for one purpose - gelfling genocide. With the garthim's appearance, through Kira's eyes, he watched a tremendously violent scenario. He saw her only brother be torn limb from limb, dark blood pouring from his body, sent from life to death, along with both her parents in front of her very eyes. He saw that as her mother placed her in a tree trunk, she was the only one who managed to escape that horrible night, orphaned and alone. He witnessed the podling family who had stumbled upon her in the wilderness, starving and close to death herself. It was at this point Na Na abruptly broke the grip the two of them held on each other in the calm of her apartment.

"Stop!" He cried out, clearly troubled, pushing her away. He laid his head in his hands, shaking, as if he had been physically wounded.

"Are you alright?" She asked, obviously concerned.

"No. I don't think I'll ever be alright." He could not bring himself to look at her.

Not taking her eyes off of him, she put her arm around his shoulder, wondering if he would recoil once again. However, instead of pulling away this time, he did something truly astonishing. Laying his head in her lap, sobbing tearlessly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, with a grip so firm she did not think she could break loose from it if she tried.

"Kira, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. God Kira, I didn't mean..." The rest of what he said, she couldn't quite make out. She did not quite fully realize the depths of his despair.

"It's alright, Na Na. I shouldn't have showed you that," she replied softly, stroking his dark hair.

Relaxing his grip around her waist, he sat up, forcing himself to look upon her. "No, I don't think you quite understand. Oh god..." His lips were shaking, and he felt as though he wanted to vomit.

"No, I do. It's a hard thing to see, I know." She had once shared this same vision with Jen, and although of course disturbed by it, she had not quite gotten this same reaction.

Na Na managed to contain his trembling discomposure long enough to make it clear to her why he was so distressed by what he had seen. Their faces only inches apart, he proceeded to explain, not taking his eyes off of hers. "No, you don't. It's one thing to see the one you adore experience something so traumatic. It's entirely another to know that you were the one responsible for it."

Direct understanding came to Kira's face, as her eyes welled up with tears. It took all her energy to keep herself from sobbing. "Oh god, Na Na…" Neither of them had any other words at this moment. Minutes passed as they sat in each other's arms, attempting the impossible task of comprehending what had just occurred.

"I must apologize. I still mean what I said; I should not have let you see that. It does neither of us any good," she managed to say through the sobs and the tears that now flowed freely down her face. The two of them continued their hold on each other, each seeming if they were to let go, they'd be lost forever.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Kira. Not ever. Do not ever apologize to me for anything. I am the one who is sorry. I am the one who will always be sorry."

She had no response. She couldn't deny that everything he had said was true. He, just like his other clan members, was guilty of so many transgressions against her and her kind. To say otherwise would have served no point. She just laid huddled with him on her couch, searching in her mind for an answer that did not exist.

A half hour passed, with the two of them silent, in their minds trying to regain a foothold on the past as well as the future. Kira felt her back begin to cramp up slightly from the position they were holding. Not wanting to end the embrace however, she asked him a question. "Do you want to go lay down? It at least might be more comfortable."

"Sure. Show me where."

The two of them stood up, their legs both shaky from mental exhaustion. Slowly, she took him by the hand, and led him to her bedroom. Had they been in any other frame of mind, both of them would have been very consciously aware of what might happen next considering the scenario. At this point however, lovemaking was not exactly on the forefront of their agenda for either of them. They both lied down together, stretched out on the soft mattress, their arms entwined. He continued to stroke her hair as she lay in his embrace, both trying to make sense of emotions that had no logic.

"I don't want to be afraid of you," she whispered in his ear, listening to the slow steady beat of his heart. It was so quiet in the room you could hear a pin drop.

"Maybe someday you won't be," he responded in turn. He continued to hold her close, their lips only an inch apart.

A few more seconds passed, before Kira found the courage to make one last distinct request. "Na Na, I want you to make love to me."

He looked at her in awe, almost startled by her directness. "If that's what you want," he affirmed, nodding his head.

She nodded in return. "I do not want to think about the things that I showed you. Please. Help me forget." Both deep desire as well as bitter sorrow had shown plainly in her eyes.

Not saying a word, he held her more tightly to him as he slowly placed his mouth on hers, causing her stomach to drop to her knees in the process. The muscles in her body changed to something resembling a watery puddle of spilt milk. Releasing her lips from his, she found strength in her body to run her fingers through the long crop of hair on the top of his head, never shifting her eyes from his. Their legs and arms locked together in an entanglement of disarray; they shut out the outside world. Almost instantaneously, the excruciating memories of her childhood and his linked accountability were replaced by an exhilarating intoxication, free from pain or affliction. Their clothing now wrung together in a small heap on the floor, it was only the two of them, seeking pleasure with each other to lock away the past.

Catching her breath as she recovered from the euphoria and ecstacy of sharing themselves, still naked with their bodies intertwined; she rested her head on his chest. Her emotional mind-set had changed from that of pained caution to that of mad jubilation in the span of twenty minutes. Stroking his lips with her finger, a hint of devilishness twinkled in her eye.

"Fifteen hundred dollars," she whispered. A hint of a wry smile hung from her lips.

"What?" Na Na, still recovering from Kira's touch, had no idea what she meant.

"Fifteen hundred dollars." She paused, as he regarded her with a curious look. "That's how much they paid me to interview Skinny Puppy."

A wide grin immediately lit up his face as he wrinkled his eyebrows in a look of bewilderment. "You're telling me this now?"

"I thought now was as good as time as any. I just thought you might want to know." The provocative smile she wore widened across her face.

He laughed out loud, almost to the point of hysterics. If asked, he couldn't have described how good it felt good to laugh with her. "Are you serious? For an interview?"

"Not just any interview, Na Na. But yes, I'm telling you the truth. I don't know why, it just popped into my head." Laughing with him, she smiled and kissed him again, their lips not wanting to part.

And so, that is how it came to be; two enemies, once conjoined in their mutual hate, were now ready to face the world as one – together, yet in secret. Neither had any conception of what tomorrow was to bring them, in this strange and wonderful place in which they lived. They only understood the desolate pain of what it was to be apart, as well as the enchanting intoxication of what it meant to give in. Throwing caution to wind, the two of them were passionately determined to make this work.


	14. Chapter 14: We're Live in Five

The alarm clock on Kira's nightstand read seven am. Six months had gone by since she had made her heart-wrenching decision at the diner. As the early morning sun made its way through her window, delicately awaking the gelfling, she looked over contently at the man sleeping peacefully next to her. Wrapping her arm gently across his torso, Na Na's eyes opened, flashing her a drowsy smile in the process.

"Good morning, sleepy." She nuzzled in closer, kissing his forehead.

"What time is it?" He asked casually.

"Early enough to sleep a few more hours. That is, if you have nothing planned for today."

Na Na pondered this for a couple of moments. Over the past few months, the two of them had discovered it had been easier than anticipated to keep their relationship hidden from the world. After all, no one had any reason to suspect they ever spoke more than two words to each other, let alone shared the same bed more often than not. Even if by some chance the other residents were openly confronted by this fact, most wouldn't even believe it to be true.

Still, they had to take precautions. Na Na in particular had taken the utmost care to ensure his whereabouts were always accounted for when he was with her. That had, of course, been made easy by the fact that unless he had somewhere specific to be - such as band practice - the other Skeksis rarely ever cared to look beyond their own self-centered lives to notice any changes in schedule. Adding to this, he also kept his room locked by default, so nobody knew any better if he was actually in there, or not.

"We have to be in the studio later tonight, but that's not until six. I think I can manage to stay with you a little while longer." A half smile shown on his lips, as his eyes trailed the line of her face for a few moments. He then proceeded to kiss her deeply and passionately, instantly forcing her mind completely awake. As Kira broke the kiss, she smiled at him with an innocent expression of mock inquisition.

"Oh, I think you know," Na Na stated matter-of-factly, answering her questioning grin.

"Do I now?" She responded, wrapping her legs around his waist, and kissing him feverishly around the neck.

Pulling himself directly on top of her almost forcibly, he responded in turn. "I would say so."

Pulling themselves under the covers with Na Na still over top of her, the two of them kissed each other feverishly, trying to hold off a little longer on what they both knew was coming.

As she felt the tender bites across her neck and flesh, he spoke again. "You know something?"

"What's that, my love?" She responded breathlessly, between labored gasps.

"Doing something you _know_ you shouldn't be doing makes it just that much better, doesn't it." She could feel his nails dig all the way across her back like knives as he made this little observation.

Of course, what he said needed no further explanation. She understood completely. Finally put over the edge, she could only nod in agreement; succumbing fully to the frenzy they were now engaged in.

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It was the following day, and Kira arrived just a few minutes early to the newsroom, before she was scheduled for work. The room was bustling with activity, with dozens of people preparing to air the daily news show, Random Exposed. Yes, work had been busy for her, and she welcomed that fact. As curious as she was about this strange world around her, she truly enjoyed her job as an up and coming journalist for the show.

Filing through the notes of her latest story, deeply engrossed in what she was doing, she did not see that someone from behind was approaching her.

"Boo!" Io exclaimed, poking her in the ribs.

"Ah!" She screamed, truly startled. "Holy gods, Io, you scared the life out of me!"

"Ha, I know. That's why I did it!" The firery haired girl giggled loudly. Kira couldn't hold a straight face any longer, and laughed right back at her. Although completely unaware of why it was so, Io thought to herself how good it was to see her friend smile again.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Kira asked. "I thought you were busy working at the gift shop in the lobby downstairs."

"I've been doing that part time, but I'm actually just here visiting Andre while he's working. I know you've heard they just hired him as both director and producer for Random Exposed."

Kira was indeed aware of this fact. Adding to her own anxiety, she was also fully aware of the powers Andre Linoge possessed, which she of course had also learned through her friend. "Yeah, I have heard. Tell him I said congratulations." The gelfling wanted to give him no reason to get on his bad side. Although he had to this date given her no indication he had any intention of divulging any of her well kept secrets, she figured the kinder she was toward Mr. Linoge, the better.

"I will. Well speak of the devil, there you are," Io exclaimed warmly toward Andre, who had come over to join their conversation.

"Well I'm no devil, although there are those who may argue differently," he responded matter-of-factly, wearing his usual trademark smirk.

Kira smiled toward him, and he returned the expression, looking her straight in the eye. Regardless of what knowledge Andre may or may not have regarding her and her delicate situation, she held her head high, exuding the air of sheer politeness and hospitality. The three made small talk over the murmur of the small crowd gathered in the room. As the conversation went on, she witnessed Ung strut through the door, followed by Na Na and Tek. Unbeknownst to her, the three Skeksis were there to borrow some editing equipment to be used for Skinny Puppy's latest video, 'Pro-Test'. Pretending not to notice them, whether her secret lover was with them or not, was of course routine for her and this instance was no different.

Just as she was pondering if his quick grin at her was real or imagined, as her eyes shifted briefly towards Na Na, Andre's cell phone rang. Picking it up, he nodded, casually telling the caller he understood, and it was no problem. He would find a replacement right away.

"That," he paused, hanging up the phone, "Was Sydney. Apparently she and Brett had a minor fender bender, and won't be here in time to do the news."

Io laughed, as if this were a normal occurrence for these two. To be truthful, it really wasn't out of the ordinary. Sydney Chase, with dark, shaggy hair not hanging quite to her shoulders, dark eye-lined eyes the color of storms, and slender, young and feminine as can be, was the human personification of a tornado. Her 'partner in crime', as she referred to Brett Anderson, a large man with dusty blonde hair who often looked like he just came from the beach, was that of a hurricane. These two could often be seen with Elijah Sorenson, a jittery young man, who happened to be the third element of destruction – an earthquake. Sydney and Brett also did the broadcast of the morning news show, which unfortunately; they would not be able to be a part of today.

"Go figure. Let me guess – Sydney was driving, right?" Io asked, not doing anything to stifle her laughter. Although she and Sydney were close friends, she was all too aware of her penchant for creating chaos, intended or not.

"No, it was Brett." Andre responded.

"Oh, so that's what she said? Trying to put the blame on poor Brett again, eh?"

"No, that's what I know."

"I see," she responded. The two girls looked at each other - Kira with a look of bewilderment, and Io rolling her eyes and shaking her head as if that was just so fucking typical.

Kira looked around nervously. Yes, Andre's unique abilities definitely made her uncomfortable. She felt herself gaze over towards the switch room. The three Skeksis were still in there, obviously conducting some sort of business. She then glanced back towards Andre, who was looking back at her, with a wry smile on his face.

As a lull fell over the conversation, he stepped back, calling over the crowd, silencing them in a matter of seconds. "Attention everyone! I've just gotten news our two anchors Sydney and Brett will not be able join us today. This means I am in need of two replacements. Before I choose two people, would anybody like to volunteer?"

A few moments passed. No answers. Just silence.

"Okay then. Have it your way. Let's see. That means I will have to pick." He scanned the swarm of people, as if he were looking for the just the right ones. His eyes finally came to rest on the wide-eyed girl standing right in front of him. He smiled. "Kira. You've done interviews before, and have been in front of the camera plenty of times. How would you like to do the news today?"

Surprised by this, but still with her head about her, she thought it over. It was choice that indeed made sense after all, she admitted to herself. "Yeah, I suppose I could do it. I don't think it will be a problem." She smiled back as self assuredly as she could muster.

"Okay, that's one down. Thank you, my dear." Andre noted. He scanned the crowd again, looking for that other perfect fill in. A couple of moments passed. The crowd was close to silent, as they waited to see who would be his other pick. His eyes finally zeroed on the switch room, with the three Skeksis still mulling over how to work the controls of the soundboard.

"You. Over there in the corner, messing around with our image enhancer." Na Na looked around to each of his comrades, and then finally resting his eyes to that of Andre pointing directly at him. "SkekNa. Yes, I believe that is your name. You're going to be our second."

In the mille-second that it took to register what had just happened, Kira's semi-confident demeanor changed to that of sheer, white panic. _Why, why, why?! _She thought anxiously to herself. _How could he do such a mean and cruel thing?_ Her heart raced, and her breath quickened to short, uneven bursts. The tips of her fingers began to shake, and she felt as if she were about to hyperventilate. A strange, obscure thought crossed her mind. Perhaps hyperventilation would be better – maybe she would pass out, delaying momentarily the impending doom that was about to commence.

She could hear the crowd gasp, and some even giggling nervously at the thought of putting the two supposed adversaries together on closed circuit television. Her first thought was to run, but as always, when fear such as this took hold, she could not move.

Witnessing the look of terror that had seized Kira's face, Andre whispered to her, touching her arm in mock reassurance. "Don't worry, dear. Just cooperate, and it will all be over soon."

As much as they fought the urge, she and Na Na looked briefly toward each other with looks of sick anxiety, and then back at Linoge. Shaking her head, the gelfling's eyes pleaded at him madly to stop this insanity – pick somebody else - anybody! She had no idea if Na Na knew what Linoge was capable of, and for his own sake, she prayed that he didn't.

Glancing towards the other two Skeksis beside him, Na Na saw the expressions they wore – utter disgust. Trying to maintain some sense of dignity for appearance sake, he protested resentfully. "Why…why me? I'm not going up there with…_her_." As much as he tried to maintain the guise of control, he could feel the sweat drip down his cheek.

Linoge responded without missing a beat. "Na Na. You have plenty of experience being in front of an audience. Go put on a microphone, do the morning news, and be done with it. If not, you must know I can make this _much_ worse for you than it is now."

He couldn't know how, but somewhere in his psyche he knew what Andre had meant by that last statement. The man knew everything. Na Na had no answers. He could only nod his head in agreement; glaring at the man with a look he wished wholeheartedly would murder him.

"Okay, that will do it then," Andre Linoge stated as if though he had just picked two average people standing by. Folks, go ahead and get them ready for airtime. You both know how to read the teleprompter, right?"

Although neither of them gave any answers, only pained expressions, Andre grinned in response as if they were jumping up in glee as if this were the chance of a lifetime. For Kira, her guilt-ridden thoughts turned to that of Jen, and the devastations he would suffer if he were to ever learn the truth.

Andre then turned to face Io, who had daggers in her eyes. Pulling him aside into the hallway, she began to tear into him. "You sorry son of a bitch. Just what in the mother-fuck are you are doing to that poor girl? So it's just by chance you choose to put her up there with one of those _things, _one of those…_Skeksis?!?" _You fucking freak asshole! That was shit what you did, Linoge. Shit. Do you understand that?"

Andre regarded her with an intent smile, as Io continued to spill vulgarities his way. There was something about the way she was so easy to fire up – it was downright entertaining. "Io dear, your friend will be fine. Believe me, I am doing them _both_ a favor. But if it makes you feel better, I'll see what I can do to assuage her fears."

Io rolled her eyes once again. "You call that a favor? The poor girl looks absolutely terrified!"

"As I said before, I will go over there and see what can be done. That's my final word on this matter." He looked at her narrowly as if to say _do not question me further on this._

"Well then you better get the fuck up there right now. She looks like she's about to faint."

He made his way toward the two of them, now both seated nervously at the anchor desk. He thought amusingly to himself how comical it was that they dared not look even in one another's direction. Andre motioned toward the assistant, who was helping Kira with her microphone, to leave – he wished to speak to them alone.

"Just came by to say good luck, and thank you both for filling in. This really helps us out," Andre stated, in a tone that may have sounded sincere to anyone not privy to the situation.

Both he and Kira could only glare at him in contempt, trying to maintain some semblance of control. "Why are you doing this to us?" she demanded.

"Doing what to you?" Andre asked in his ever-condescending manner. "Asking you to help out where needed?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You are a cruel, cruel man. We have done nothing to you."

"Oh my dear Kira, if you are talking about the little _secret _that you two share, you can rest assured that part is safe. For now, at least."

Na Na's eyes burned intensely on the man, honestly not sure this time if he would be able to contain his anger. He could feel the pent-up rage pushing him well past the limit, about to explode any minute. "Why you assh-"

Andre cut him off, motioning at him to be still. "Be careful, Slave-master. Your clan members are watching you right now. I doubt very much you would like to explain to them what _exactly_ is troubling you at this moment."

With that, Andre Linoge turned and left them, with the moments to airtime counting down.

Kira whispered to Na Na, as silently as possible, striving to maintain some sense of sanity. "Keep an eye ahead on the teleprompter. I've seen them do it before. The writers will throw stuff in there, and by the time you've read it aloud, you've embarrassed the heck out of yourself."

Na Na only shook his head; unable to comprehend of how this was all going to end. He whispered back to her under his breath, "If a little embarrassment is all that happens to us today, I will die a happy man."


	15. Chapter 15: Random Exposure

Chapter 15:

Standing between the two cameras on the pedestal in the center of the room, Atreyu held his hands to the right, as he listened for the controller's commands from the switch room through his headset. Pointing toward the camera on the right, the young man held his fingers out towards the two hapless anchors, counting down the seconds to airtime. The former warrior turned hero, who hailed from a world known as Fantasia, couldn't help but notice the seriousness of both of their expressions, as Na Na and Kira tried to focus on everything surrounding them except each other.

"We are live in five, four, three, two, one…" he announced to the dead silent room.

Reading strictly off the teleprompter in front of her, Kira could only concentrate on the assignment at hand. Struggling to block out all thoughts regarding her secret lover seated next to her, all she could do was take a deep breathe, and begin, forcing herself to plant the heels of her feet on the floor to keep them from shaking.

"Good morning Random House," she began to read, trying to steady her voice as professionally as she could manage, looking directly into the camera. "My name is Kira Kindala, and today I will be filling in for Sydney Chase.

The camera panned to Na Na. Reading the teleprompter word for word as well, he stumbled over his words, giving up what little grasp of control he had, if he ever had any at all.

"And my name…My name is SkekNa. Today," he continued, clearing his throat, "I will be filling in for Brett Anderson."

All throughout the towering skyscraper in which they resided, the residents suddenly clamored around their television sets, in what would have seemed to be one synchronized movement. The Random House's diverse populace dropped everything that they were doing, suddenly enwrapped in the program, which was usually meant for the soul purpose of background noise. After all, how often did one get to see two bitter enemies such as these, perform the daily news together? A sight like this certainly did not come around often.

"Gah!" SkekEkt nearly screamed in the second floor communal room, clutching her chest. "In the name of the great dark Crystal, _what_…_is…he_…doing on the tv with her?" She looked towards Vera and Sil, who had both come running to see what all of the commotion was about.

Glancing toward the television with a look of wide-eyed bewilderment, Vera cackled wildly. "Oh. My. God. This is going to be the best show ever!" Wanting to add more, the human velociraptor then decided to keep quiet, waiting to hear what they were going to say next.

In the twenty-second floor communal room, Eros was in the kitchen brewing hot tea, with his mother Aphrodite. His eyes not yet on the television, he heard the usual theme music for Random Exposed, as he waited to hear what sort of entertainment they would try incorporate with the news this morning. Hearing Kira's voice as she made her introduction, he glanced over towards the television, taking note of her unusually pale, fearful complexion, which she was obviously doing her utmost to conceal. A couple of seconds passed, as he watched Na Na, his other one-time unintended victim, make his own introduction. His jaw agape and his face frozen in awe, he let go of the ceramic tea cup from his hand, as it smashed to pieces on the floor.

Jen lay awake on the bed of his room, casually flipping through the channels of his television. Abruptly stopping on channel 3 as he saw Kira's face, he smiled to himself as he assumed she must have finally been promoted to anchor. The smile quickly faded however, sitting straight up off the bed, when he witnessed the Skeksis sitting next to her, about to make his own on-air debut.

As the camera panned back to her, over the television, Kira gathered the courage to continue, reading off of the teleprompter in front of her. "First up, on Random Exposed today - a support group for those with dysfunctional family issues, particular those involving parents, will begin meeting on Saturdays at noon in the Cobalt room. Please see Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia for additional information."

The audience looked around smiling, most of them unsure if the first the first news item was serious or a joke. Kira, being unsure herself, continued. "As a reminder, Sydney Chase and Elijah Sorenson are still taking donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina. They are working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, otherwise known as FEMA, in making sure that aide gets to the right people quickly and efficiently. It's also known that FEMA is keeping an eye on _them_ as well."

This time, a subtle murmur of laughter came from the crowd, causing Kira shoulders to relax just the slightest bit. Still reading word for word on the script, she stated, "And now over to you…SkekNa." Her nervous false smile, along with her small voice inflection on his name, gave away her obvious uncertainty.

Not hesitating this time, he began. "Recurring every Tuesday beginning August 14, Sub Zero and Sonja Blade will begin hosting a kick-boxing class in the first floor gymnasium. Sign up now, and you too someday may be able to slice somebody's head off with one single upper cut." This tidbit of information made him grin, despite himself.

He then continued. "Walter O'Dim is putting together a poker night on Fridays at 8:00 pm, also to be held in the Cobalt room. If you are interested, and if your name is NOT Roland Deschain, please contact him for further details. His room extension is 505. Back to you, Kira," he said, still refusing to look toward his fellow co-anchor.

The gelfling started again. "Carol Anne Freeling's Psychic Friends Network will be hosting a telethon next month in order to raise money for homeless kittens. We here at Random Exposed look forward to airing the telethon live with Carol Anne, in order to do our part to support this serious and worthy cause."

She went on to the next subject, not looking ahead to what was written. Still naturally reading the script on the teleprompter word for word, she tried to sound as upbeat as possible, despite her impossible situation. "Last on our agenda for today, Skinny Puppy will be playing a live show on September 17th at the Van Andel Arena. This is a show you don't want to miss. The band members live on my floor, and they are some of the um, _nicest?.._folks you will…ever…_meet_. I know they are one of my…favorite…_bands_?"

It was obvious to everyone around her that she did not mean what she had just said, as she stammered on her words, making the situation all the more humorous to the surrounding audience. The crowd began chuckling to each other, and despite herself, she glanced over at Na Na with a slight glare, whom she could see was on the verge of laughter himself. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, unable to hold in a grin, he snickered into his microphone, causing the audience to go into further hysterics.

There was a small pause as Na Na, attempting to regain his composure while still giggling sporadically, took his turn at the mic, of course still reading word for word. "And that, my fine friends, ("snicker) wraps up your morning news. Please be sure to join us tomorrow when Sydney will have returned her vacation in Greensburg, Kansas, and Brett will be back from his tour of the Gulf States. Until then, go ("bleep") yourself, Random House."

That very last part, although completely scripted as well, drew further laughter from the audience, with most viewers thinking it was a completely adlibbed response. After all, it would have been a typical Skeksis reaction to the ridiculous situation he had just been involuntarily placed in. With that, the credits began to roll.

The crowd in the newsroom began to wrap up the set, leaving Kira and Na Na alone at anchor desk, removing their microphones. They glanced at each other briefly with looks of semi-relief, still mixed with harsh anxiety. They looked nervously around themselves, about to leave their spots as quickly as they manage, along with wiping the sweat from their still dripping brows. Both of them wondered if this ridiculous scenario was indeed over, and just how unscathed they would emerge. Did the viewers still believe they were simply victims of the producer's sick and twisted sense of humor - a man who just wanted to see what would happen when two mortal enemies were put side by side at the news desk? Still pondering this thought, they noticed they were once again being approached by the man himself - Andre Linoge. "I just wanted to say thank you again for helping us out. Thanks to you two, our ratings are through the roof," he stated, matter-of-factly. The man wore a smile so wide, it could only be defined as creepy.

The two of them could only stare at him, dumbfounded, each of them trying to figure out what exactly his purpose was for putting them up there. Na Na's self-contained laughter quickly faded, turning into a direct look of anger at the sight of Linoge. He shot back at him with tortured ire. "So you're telling me that was the fucking point all along? To attract more viewers for your pitiful little show?"

Andre responded with a twisted grin. "But of course. What other reason would you think I would have for choosing the two of you?"

"You know damned well," Kira answered, just slightly above a whisper.

He responded with his chuckling, yet ever so condescending tone. "Kira my dear, would you really think me that cruel of a man to expose you both right on the air? As I told you both before, your little secret is safe. At least for now. And I always keep my word."

Both the gelfling and the Skeksis could only shake their heads with glares of contempt. A couple of seconds passed, when Andre spoke again. "And if you would like it to remain that way, Na Na, I suggest you get back with your clan members. They may begin to wonder why you have not rejoined them yet."

Realizing that Linoge was indeed right, without saying a further word, Na Na turned away and headed off to return to Ung and Tek, each of whom looked just as mystified as the other at the whole scene.

In the same movement as he made his way back to his fellow Skeksis, Io charged up to the news desk, all the while still glaring at Linoge for forcing her friend into such an uncomfortable and distressing situation. "Oh my gosh girl, are you alright? That was a horrible thing he did to you, putting you up there with…_him." _She made certain everyone around could hear her, including Na Na, making no attempt to lower her voice.

"I'm fine, Io. Now that it's over…I'm fine." Still a bit shaken, she reflected on this, reasoning with herself that this could have been much, much worse.

"See? I told you she would be okay. Did I lie?" Andre responded patronizingly to Io's reprimanding.

"I want to hear it from Kira." She looked at her friend ruefully, squeezing her arm gently. "Sweetie, you say you are fine, but you look positively pale. You cannot sit here and tell me that was an easy thing for you."

To say it was not an easy thing for her was truly an understatement. Not feeling the slightest bit comfortable with the conversation, or where it was headed, the gelfling just wanted to end it right there. "As Andre said, it's over. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going." With that, Kira turned and left, returning to the real assignment she had been working on, in an attempt to inject some sense of normalcy into her day that she knew would never exist.

As she left, Io regarded her with a worried look. It was not like Kira to blow her off like that, regardless of the wretched circumstances she had just emerged from. Her own sharp intuition told her that something was completely awry, though she had not the faintest clue what it could be. Her friend was obviously in need of help, and Io was determined to do everything she could for her. That included getting to the bottom of whatever the fuck it was that was troubling her.

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It was now evening, and Kira was finally wrapping up her day's work, after getting a rather late start, of course. The story she had been working on was on the Random House itself, and its direct influence on the fashion and music industry. She found it interesting how many of the high profile residents of this place had such an impression on everyday American culture. For example, a pair of knee-high snakeskin leather boots, combined with a short mini dress, was all the rage in dance clubs across America. Why, one might ask? Because Vera Raptor had been photographed wearing a pair while dining at the 1913 Room one Friday night. Even Kira herself was looked up to by young girls and average suburban teenagers, although she was much too modest of a person to really understand her own influence. Of course, it was just another example of the celebrity-obsessed culture, such as what occurs in this country today. To Kira, however, it was downright fascinating.

Completing the finishing touches on her story, she made her way back to her room. No longer having her work to negate more pending thoughts at hand, she wondered to herself if she would be seeing Na Na tonight at all; taking into consideration the outrageous and bizarre situation they had been unwillingly thrown into this morning. As her anxious thoughts jumbled around in her head, she passed Marty, Ellie and Dr. Alan Grant in the hallway.

Giving her a high five, shaking her hand, and then patting her on the back almost violently, Marty exclaimed to her how impressed she was with that morning's news coverage. "Holy shit Kira, that was best news segment we've had in a long time! Great job with that!" She laughed loudly.

Not really wanting to discuss it, but also not wanting to arouse suspicion if she didn't, she responded, "Thank you, guys. As I'm sure you can guess, that really wasn't my idea, but whatever. It's done now."

Alan responded with a chuckle. "Regardless. Nice job, considering the circumstances. By the way, I never knew you were such a big Skinny Puppy fan." This last remark drew laughter from everybody, including Kira.

"Well, that part was not my idea either, as I'm sure everyone watching could tell."

With that, she made her adieus, telling them she was just exhausted, and had to get back to her dwellings before she passed out. This really was not a lie. She entered her room, and lay down on the bed, reenacting in her head the day's events, and how they came to pass. She futilely imagined to herself how she could have avoided the entire scenario, coming up empty every time. Who exactly was Andre, and how did he know the very thing they had managed so carefully to keep secret?

Her thoughts then turned once again to Na Na. She pondered back and forth if she should call him. Perhaps seeing each other on this night might prove too risky, considering the thin tightrope they already walked. What if he was currently with his other clan members, and they saw her name on the caller id of his cell phone? What if she called up to his room, and one of the other Skeksis was in there, and saw her phone number on his caller id? What if one of them answered? She had never really thought of these things before, but after what had happened to her this morning, these risks were now on the forefront of her mind. Maybe she should wait a day, maybe even two or three before seeing him again. Yet, as always with their unlikely relationship, there had always been so many 'what ifs'. She knew she had to see him tonight, or she would lose whatever sanity she had left. She was about to pick up the phone, when she heard the all-familiar two knocks on her back door. Sighing a breathe of relief, she went ahead and answered it.

Shuffling Na Na through the doorway and closing the door in what seemed to be one swift movement, the two of them embraced each other tightly, neither wanting to let go.

"Tell me, Kira. Who is he? How does he know?" He asked, finally facing her.

"I don't know. I have told no one. My friend Io, whom I think might be involved with him, tells me the man knows everything about everyone, no matter how hidden a secret may be." She paused, trying to figure out exactly how to word what she was about to go into next. "We were lucky today, Na Na. The man has a habit of divulging well kept secrets in very public places. I honestly thought that's what he was going to do to us."

Na Na agreed. "He told me he could make the situation much worse if I did not cooperate. I really do think that _is_ what he had in mind. I don't know how I knew that at the time, but I knew it all the same." He held her close again, each of them horrified at the thought of how awful the day truly could have been.

A couple of minutes passed, as they sat down next to each other on the sofa, with Kira resting her head softly on his shoulder. The two of them had grown increasingly more comfortable with each other's presence over the past six months, helping make this impossible situation that much easier to bear. At least they had each other to lean on, if no one else. Making an attempt to bring some light to the circumstances at hand, Na Na smiled at Kira devilishly. "I also want to thank you for the on-air promotion of my band. That was very thoughtful of you."

Kira sat straight up, raising her head off of his shoulder, and looked at him narrowly, pretendin_g_ not to find any humor in his last statement. "Oh my god, Na Na, I can't believe you actually started laughing. What was going through your head that was so damned funny?"

"You, that's what! You have to admit, that was pretty good."

Rolling her eyes at him, Kira regarded him with a blank stare. A couple of seconds passed, as she decided she could not contain herself anymore. She burst out in a fit of uncontrolled laughter, giving away any pretenses of discontentment. Na Na joined her, each now bent over at their sides in a rush of hilarity.

A few moments later, the laughter subsided, and they regarded each other with serious looks, as if each had the same thought.

"Do you think he knows what happened? I mean, why things are the way they are between us?" she asked him in a somber tone.

"I don't know, Kira. At this point, would you want to know?" It was a difficult question, but he had to ask it nonetheless.

"That's hard to answer. It's a hard question to think about, period," she responded, looking away. Her answer was the truth. As close as she felt to him (could she call it love?), she had to admit their situation was anything but ideal. Simulating a guise of hatred towards each other in public, while at the same time being completely devoted to each other in private, had been anything but easy on the two of them.

"I understand what you mean. But I do not think somebody such as Andre Linoge would be on my top list of people to ask to help us. And to tell you the truth, it's difficult to imagine my life with you no longer in it." His sad expression showed exactly how much it pained him to think about such things.

Kira nodded in agreement, almost flinching at the thought as well. "I know," she responded, wrapping her arm around him, and holding him close. As difficult as their forbidden love affair had been on her, it was hard to imagine their life any other way.


End file.
